Governor Noem issued an executive order today allowing federally-contracted state employees to make religious or medical exemptions from the federal vaccine mandate.
State employees who wish to receive a medical exemption need a written statement from a physician. For a religious exemption, applicants must fill out a form that will be made available by the state Bureau of Human Resources.
Gov. Noem says she is working with South Dakota lawmakers to make these exemptions permanent and to extend them to employees of private businesses.
The executive order doesn’t apply to South Dakota National Guard service members who must meet federal readiness responsibilities for deployment.