SD Legislature sets mental health study

Lawmakers will study access to mental health services in South Dakota and examine the costs at the state and local levels.

The Legislature's Executive Board voted Monday on topics to study ahead of the 2019 session.

The panel also approved a study on the increasing need for special education in schools and how to adequately fund it. Republican Sen. Jim Bolin says it's a very important issue that's "not going away."

House Speaker Pro Tempore Steven Haugaard supported the mental health study, saying it's an opportunity to direct state resources in that area and to help counties figure out how to address the "burgeoning problem of mental illness."

The two studies came from a list of 15 ideas.