PIERRE - The South Dakota House State Affairs Committee has killed a bill to make state Brand Board members elected officials. The vote on Friday was 8-3.

Lawmakers worried HB1107 might violate constitutional provisions and that the proposed elections might be too expensive.

State law requires brand inspections when cattle, horses and mules are sold or are moved out of western South Dakota. Under current law, the governor appoints the five-member board, and the members serve five-year-terms.

The South Dakota Stockgrowers Association previously ran the brand inspection program, but the Brand Board assumed direct control of it last year.

The bill's sponsor, state Rep. Betty Olson, R-Prairie City, said her goal was to remove politics from the process.

She said her bill would have set up a system that elected seven board members from seven districts. The members would have been elected to four-year terms. People who had paid a $50 fee to register a brand would have been eligible to vote.

Olson said she divided the state into seven districts based on having roughly the same number of cattle in each district.

Larry Nelson, South Dakota Stockgrowers Association president, said the bill would put the inspection program back under the control of the ranchers who use it.

Brenda Foreman of the South Dakota Cattlemen's Association opposed the bill, saying the additional expense of an elected board could lead to a higher fee for inspecting animals. The current system seems to be working well, she said.

Jason Glodt, representing Gov. Mike Rounds' office, said Rounds opposes the bill because it could be unconstitutional, it would be difficult to figure out who could vote, and the elections could be expensive.

Constitutional provisions require that each person's vote get equal weight, but Olson's proposal would divide the electoral districts based on cattle numbers, Glodt said, adding that cattle are not protected by the U.S. Constitution.

Also, the bill did not specify who would resolve election disputes and determine who can vote for Brand Board members, Glodt said.

He said no state has an elected brand board and that no other board organized under the executive branch of state government is elected.

Under questioning by committee members, Olson acknowledged her bill would allow a 5-year-old to vote in a board election if a brand was registered in that child's name.

Rep. Val Rausch, R-Big Stone City, said he liked the idea behind the bill but voted against it because many details remain to be worked out. Supporters should work in the next year to improve the proposal, he said.