South Dakota Codified Laws Chapter 22-19A defines stalking as willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly following or harassing another person, making credible threats, or using repeated communications that cause fear or serious alarm without legitimate purpose. Stalking is a Class 1 misdemeanor in South Dakota, but a subsequent conviction within ten years increases to a Class 6 felony. A Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $2,000 fine, a Class 6 felony carries a sentence of up to 2 years in prison and a $4,000 fine.

South Dakota Codified Laws Title 25, Chapter 10 establishes the statutory framework for protection from domestic abuse in the state. Section 25-10-1 defines domestic abuse as physical harm, attempted harm, or conduct that causes fear of imminent physical harm committed within specified relationships, including spouses, former spouses, parents and children, siblings, co-parents, or individuals in a significant romantic relationship within the past year.

Article 21, § 9 of the South Dakota Constitution states that only a marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in the state. It further bars recognition of civil unions, domestic partnerships, or other similar relationships involving two or more persons. This constitutional provision was invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S.

In Ray v. McCloud, 507 F. Supp. 3d 925 (S.D. Ohio 2020) the same plaintiffs in Ray v. Himes (S.D. Ohio 2019), sought summary judgment on their claims that Ohio’s continued refusal to amend gender markers on birth certificates violated the Constitution.

Ohio law permits a person to correct their birth certificate if the basis for the correction is a mistake, adoption, or legal name change. In 2015, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) decided to prohibit changes to the gender marker on an Ohio birth certificate when the basis is that the person is transgender. In Ray v.

In Moe v. Yost (2025), the plaintiffs/appellants are two transgender adolescents and their families, challenging House Bill 68, also known as the SAFE Act, which restricts minors in Ohio from gaining access to gender-affirming care and services. The defendants/appellees are the Attorney General of Ohio, et al. 

The Ohio Civil Rights Act, also known as the Ohio Fair Employment Practices Act, codified primarily in Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4112, is the state’s comprehensive anti-discrimination law.

Ohio House Bill 531 (2025), known as Braden’s Law, criminalizes sexual extortion, defined as threatening to release or distribute private images, as a third-degree felony, subject to enhancement to a first-degree felony under certain aggravating circumstances. The law also requires courts to consider parental requests for access to the phones of deceased minors.

The Act to amend sections 2905.32 and 2907.21 of the Revised Code penalizes the use of controlled substances in compelling prostitution and human trafficking, thereby criminalizing coercion via drug dependency. The use of drugs did not fit under the definition of “compelled” prior to the passing of this legislation.

Ohio House Bill 322 (2025), also known as the “Grooming Offenses Act” created a civil offense of grooming, imposed penalties on offenders, and established registry requirements for individuals who are convicted of child sexual abuse.