South Dakota's new athletic trainer compact includes a direct, out-of-pocket compliance cost most practitioners haven't heard about yet.
Most South Dakota health service owners haven't heard about a specific financial requirement buried in HB1149, the bill adopting the athletic trainer licensure compact. But if you employ athletic trainers or are planning to expand practice across state lines, this provision will affect your budget and your staff's licensing timeline.
HB1149 allows South Dakota to join an interstate compact—a legal agreement among multiple states that lets licensed athletic trainers practice across member states without obtaining separate licenses in each one. This is meant to reduce red tape and make it easier for trainers to work in different states.
The compact itself becomes active once seven states have enacted it. South Dakota's law takes effect upon enactment.
Here's the part most people miss: any athletic trainer in South Dakota who wants to participate in this interstate compact must personally pay for both state and federal fingerprint-based criminal background checks. This is not optional, not subsidized, and not absorbed by the state licensing board.
This requirement appears in Section 1 of HB1149 (Page 1) and applies to every single applicant seeking compact participation. The cost comes directly out of the trainer's pocket as a prerequisite to gaining interstate practice privileges.
If you employ athletic trainers and want them to have the flexibility to practice across state lines—or if you're considering multistate expansion—you need to budget for these background check fees. The costs vary by state and vendor, but fingerprint-based federal and state checks typically run between $50 and $150 per person combined.
More importantly, this is a direct compliance cost that trainers must cover before they can access compact benefits. If your staff wants interstate privileges, they'll need to absorb this expense upfront. Some employers may choose to reimburse this cost as a professional development benefit, but the law places the obligation on the individual trainer.
The timing also matters: the compact activates when the seventh state enacts it, which means the window for trainers to submit applications and complete background checks could open relatively soon, depending on how quickly other states move.
If you have athletic trainers on staff, make sure they're aware of this requirement. If you're considering whether to encourage or support compact participation, factor the background check cost into your decision. And if you're thinking about multistate operations, understand that every trainer seeking interstate privileges will need to complete and pay for these checks individually.
The interstate compact is designed to reduce licensing barriers, but this background check fee is a real, unavoidable cost that doesn't disappear. Planning ahead will help you manage the financial and administrative impact when the compact becomes active in your state.
Source: HB1149, Section 1, Page 1; Section 12.A (compact activation trigger).