A week has gone by since South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley spoke to the Sioux Falls City Council about crime trends in our state. Now standing alongside South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard the announcement comes of tougher drug penalties.

Governor Daugaard has signed a bill that imposes harsher penalties for methamphetamine dealing and manufacturing.

According to Jackley's office the new law includes mandatory prison sentences for meth dealing and the distribution of opioids. The report states that mandatory sentences are in current law, but they aren't consistently applied.

KSFY TV reported that in speaking to the City Council last week Jackley said "the biggest challenge we have are the drug crimes. It's a national epidemic. Especially on Meth and opioids. Our state legislature has given law enforcement additional tools and we're going to use those tools to get the dealers out of our state."

According to KSFY TV Lincoln County Sheriff Dennis Johnson said as the population grows it's expected that crime will increase. "Methamphetamine right now in all the years I've been around is as bad as I've ever seen it," Johnson said.


See Also:

More From KXRB