An Act to revise the crime of witness tampering.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of South Dakota:

Section 1. That § 22-11-19 be AMENDED:

22-11-19. Any person who injures, or threatens to injure, any person or property,or, with intent to influence a witness,; who offers, confers, or agrees to confer any benefit on a witness or prospective witness in an official proceeding; or who corruptly persuades or corruptly influences another person to induce the witness to:

(1) Testify falsely;

(2) Withhold any testimony, information, document, or thing;

(3) Elude legal process summoning the witness to testify or supply evidence; or

(4) Absent himself or herself from an official proceeding to which the witness has been legally summoned;

is guilty of tampering with a witness. Any person who injures, or threatens to injure, any person or property in retaliation for that person testifying in an official proceeding, or for cooperating with law enforcement, government officials, investigators, or prosecutors, is guilty of tampering with a witness. Tampering with a witness is a Class 4 felony.

For the purposes of this section, the term, corruptly, means wrongful or immoral and done with an intent to impede the administration of justice.