In April 2026, the South Dakota Supreme Court let two officers keep their names sealed in a 2024 shooting case, holding that Marsy's Law can protect officers from being located and harassed. Earlier that year the legislature passed HB 1298, a new law against doxxing officers and judges, which took effect July 1, 2026.
What happened
On April 23, 2026, the South Dakota Supreme Court ruled that two Sioux Falls officers involved in a 2024 shooting can keep their names out of public records. The case is State v. Albaidhani. On April 3, 2024, the officers stopped a vehicle and exchanged gunfire with Samir Albaidhani; one officer and Albaidhani were shot, and both survived.
The court based the ruling on Marsy's Law, a victims' rights amendment South Dakota voters added to the state constitution. It held that officers acting in their official capacity can be treated as crime victims, and that releasing their names or initials could let someone locate and harass them or their families. The decision reversed a lower court and said redaction depends on the facts of each case.
The anti-doxxing law
Earlier in 2026, the South Dakota Legislature passed HB 1298. It makes it a crime to electronically publish a law enforcement officer's or judge's home address, date of birth, or Social Security number with intent to put the officer or their family in reasonable fear of death or great bodily injury. The violation is a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to two years in prison. Governor Larry Rhoden signed it, and it took effect July 1, 2026.
A second 2026 law, HB 1084, lets officers keep their home address, phone number, and email out of the public voter registration file. It also took effect July 1, 2026.
Both measures followed testimony that officers and judges in the state were being threatened, stalked, and doxxed.
What this means for you
HB 1298 makes it a crime the state can prosecute when someone publishes your home address to threaten you. It does not take the address down. The listing on a data broker page stays up until someone files to remove it.
Daniel's Law in New Jersey took a different approach. It lets covered officers require the data brokers themselves to stop publishing their personal information. South Dakota's law targets the person who publishes with intent to threaten, not the brokers who sell the address in the first place. That leaves broker removal as work you have to do yourself or hire out.
What reduces this risk
South Dakota moved on this in 2026 because the threat is current. HB 1298 punishes doxxing after it happens. It does not take down the home address a data broker is already selling. Frontline Privacy finds those broker listings, files removal requests, and keeps checking for records that come back.
Public sources
- South Dakota Supreme Court rules officer names can be kept secret — Associated Press, 2026-04-24
- House committee advances law officer, judge protections from doxing — South Dakota Public Broadcasting, 2026-02-23
- New law shields officers' personal information in South Dakota — Dakota News Now, 2026-04-24
- Gov. Rhoden signs public safety bills into law — South Dakota Governor's Office, 2026-03-23