The National Guard Mutual Assistance Compact is hereby enacted into law and entered into by the State of South Dakota with all other states legally joining therein, in the form substantially as follows:

ARTICLE I. PURPOSE

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The purposes of this compact are to:

1. Provide for mutual aid among the party state in the utilization of the national guard to cope with emergencies.

2. Permit and encourage a high degree of flexibility in the deployment of national guard forces in interest of efficiency.

3. Maximize the effectiveness of the national guard in those situations which call for its utilization under the compact.

4. Provide protection for the rights of national guard personnel when serving in other states on emergency duty.

ARTICLE II. ENTRY INTO FORCE AND WITHDRAWAL

(a) This compact shall enter into force when enacted into law by any two states. Thereafter, this compact shall become effective as to any other state upon its enactment, thereof.

(b) Any party state may withdraw from this compact by enacting a statute repealing the same, but no such withdrawal shall take effect until one year after the Governor of the withdrawing state has given notice in writing of such withdrawal to the Governors of all party states.

ARTICLE III. MUTUAL AID

(a) As used in this article:

1. “Emergency” means an occurrence or condition, temporary in nature, in which police and other public safety officials and locally available national guard forces are, or may reasonably be expected to be, unable to cope with substantial and imminent danger to the public safety.

2. “Requesting state” means the state whose Governor requests assistance in coping with an emergency.

3. “Responding state” means the state furnishing aid, or requested to furnish aid.

(b) Upon request of the Governor of a party state for assistance in an emergency, the Governor of a responding state shall have authority under this compact to send without the borders of his state and place under the temporary command of the appropriate national guard or other military authorities of the requesting state all or any part of the national guard forces of his state as he may deem necessary, and the exercise of his discretion in this regard shall be conclusive.

(c) The Governor of a party state may withhold the national guard forces of his state from such use and recall any forces or part or member thereof previously deployed in a requesting state.

(d) Whenever national guard forces of any party state are engaged in another state carrying out the purposes of this compact, the members thereof so engaged shall have the same powers, duties, rights, privileges and immunities as members of national guard forces in such other state. The requesting state shall save members of the national guard forces of responding states harmless from civil liability for acts or omissions in good faith which occur in the performance of their duty while engaged in carrying out the purposes of this compact, whether the responding forces are serving the requesting state within its borders or are in transit to or from such service.

(e) Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (f), (g), and (h) of this article, all liability that may arise under the laws of the requesting state, the responding state, or a third state on account of or in connection with a request for aid, shall be assumed and borne by the requesting state.