U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) is sponsoring a bill that would eliminate the period of limitations for non-capital homicide offenses committed on federal and tribal lands.
“Prosecution for murder should not have an expiration date,” Sen. Rounds said on Sept. 30 about Kamisha’s Law, S. 2624, which he introduced in July.
The bill is named for Kamisha, a 23-month-old toddler murdered in 1992 in Roberts County, S.D., in a case that went unsolved for more than 30 years until new witness testimony in 2023 led to the prosecution of Jay Adams, Jr.
“In the case of Jay Adams Jr., new evidence was not brought forward until over three decades after Kamisha was murdered,” said Sen. Rounds. “While he was prosecuted under a plea deal, this legislation rights a wrong by eliminating the statute of limitations for second degree murder on federal lands.
“I appreciate Kamisha’s mother Christine and her husband Roger for working with us on this legislation, and I look forward to working with my Senate colleagues to honor Kamisha’s memory and get it across the finish line,” he added.
The bill also would include second-degree murder, as well as murder of federal officials, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Rounds’ staff.
Congress has previously recognized the seriousness of such crimes, abolishing statutes of limitations for first-degree murder, as well as child sexual abuse and abduction offenses in 2003 and 2006, the summary says.
S. 2624 is under consideration in the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.