Signature legislation · 2027 session
The Martin Family Court
Reform Bill Stack.
Eleven bills. One unified framework. Adapted for South Dakota from the national Family Court Reform framework championed by Robert Garza. Ready to be filed in the 102nd South Dakota Legislature.
“Parenting is a right, not a privilege.”
Aligned organizations
- Texans for Judicial Accountability
- National Parents Organization
- National Family Justice
- John Mast Foundation
The four ideas behind all eleven bills
Equal parenting at the start.
Fit mothers and fit fathers begin equal. Deviation only with documented evidence.
Due process is the line.
Constitutional rights, equal protection, and due process apply in family court the same way they apply everywhere else.
Justice on a clock.
Six months for standard cases, nine for complex. Temporary orders appealable within 7 to 14 days.
Cameras on the bench.
Every family court hearing recorded, publicly accessible online, with narrow privacy carve-outs.
The eleven bills
A framework, not a list.
Each bill solves a specific failure of the current system. Together, they restore equal parenting, due process, transparency, and a clock that runs for families, not against them.
- 01
A New Start at Equality Act
Rebuttable presumption of shared parenting at the start of every case.
Fit mothers and fit fathers begin equal. Courts may deviate only with documented evidence of abuse, neglect, substance abuse, or danger to the child.
- 02
Time Taken, Time Back Act
Time lost to unfounded allegations is restored, and false accusers face consequences.
When a parent is separated from a child based on allegations later proven false, parenting time is restored, and civil and criminal penalties attach to the false accuser.
- 03
Three Strikes Custody Interference Act
Escalating mandatory penalties for repeated withholding of parenting time.
Police may issue citations for custody interference. Escalating mandatory penalties apply to repeat violations.
- 04
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied Act
Mandatory timelines: standard cases in 6 months, complex in 9.
Family-court cases must resolve on a mandatory clock: standard cases within 6 months and complex cases within 9 months, with judicial accountability for delay.
- 05
Cameras in Courtrooms Act
Every family-court hearing recorded and publicly accessible.
Mandatory video and audio recording of every family-court hearing, with public access online and narrow privacy exceptions for minors and sensitive testimony.
- 06
Child Support Dual Calculation Reform Act
Support calculated from both parents' incomes proportional to parenting time.
Eliminates the 'cliff' by calculating child support from both parents' incomes in proportion to actual parenting time. No more punishing the parent with marginally less time.
- 07
Appealable Temporary Orders Act
Temporary custody and support orders appealable within 7 to 14 days.
Temporary orders are no longer a months-long limbo. Parties may appeal within 7 to 14 days, preventing temporary becoming permanent through delay.
- 08
The Family Court Access and Economy Act
Legal aid access for parents who can't afford representation.
Establishes funded legal-aid access for parents who cannot afford representation, so outcome is not bought by the better-resourced spouse.
- 09
Reimbursement of Fees for Parental Alienating Behaviors Act
Automatic legal-fee reimbursement and penalties when alienation is found.
Where parental alienation is found, the alienating party pays the wronged parent's legal fees, plus penalties. That eliminates the financial incentive to drag cases out.
- 10
The Family Rights and Due Process Act
Constitutional due process, equal protection, and fundamental rights apply in family court.
The capstone bill. Codifies that constitutional due process, equal protection, and fundamental parental rights apply in family court the same way they apply everywhere else in American law.
- 11
Child Support Integrity Act
Mandatory paternity testing at birth for every child born in South Dakota.
Truth at birth. Paternity is established at birth, protecting children, mothers, and fathers from years of disputed support orders and fractured families.
Capstone bill
The Family Rights and Due Process Act is the capstone, and the line in the sand.
The other ten bills fix specific failures of the current system. The capstone tells the courts what those fixes mean: constitutional due process, equal protection, and fundamental parental rights are not vacated at the family court door.