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Corrine
Olson
Argus Leader
published: 9/23/2002
Attorney General Mark Barnett compares the search for public
records to the last scene of the movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark,"
when the sought-after ark is wheeled into a government warehouse
filled to the rafters.
"You know they are never going to see that ark again," he said.
Technology has solved part of the problem by making the search
for records easier, but it also has brought a new group of questions
about access.
"We talk a lot about privacy issues. We caution students that
even though the information is available on the Net, that doesn't
mean they can use it," said Ray Chavez, professor and head of
the Contemporary Media and Journalism Department at the University
of South Dakota in Vermillion.
Chavez said the increasing amount of information about individuals
available on the Internet could lead to demands for a crackdown
on access to some information.
The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 also have caused uneasiness
among the public about what people have access to.
Despite those concerns, more and more often, public information
comes on a computer screen instead of a piece of paper.
Most state offices and many at the county and local level have
computerized their records, making a search for information simpler
for the press and the general public.
Bob Mercer, Gov. Bill Janklow's press secretary, said this administration
has used technology to try to open state government.
"One thing he's tried to do is use the Internet," Mercer said.
"The whole idea was to make state government more accessible to
the public."
South Dakota's Internet postings include 1,100 state forms, school
districts' financial information, all current state laws, a list
of current and past legislative bills and what action was taken,
and phone numbers for each department.
The governor also lists an e-mail address where constituents can
write him.
Technology also presents challenges across the country as lawmakers
must decide how to alter open records laws to accommodate it.
For example, after a federal court ruling found that e-mails from
the Reagan White House were considered public documents that could
not be destroyed when Reagan left office, numerous state legislatures
have taken action to clarify whether e-mail is a public record
under their open government laws.
Many states are looking at laws to regulate how Web sites collect
personal information from computer users who visit via the Internet.
And some are reducing the amount of information online. Several
states, for example, have decided to take sex offender registries
off the Internet, while others have passed laws to add them.
South Dakota's Legislature voted against putting statewide sex
offender lists online, but residents can see the lists at their
local police and sheriff's departments, and some local agencies
have looked at putting the information online.
Barnett said he is convinced that, if people know where to go
and whom to ask for information, they can get it. That means the
public has to understand some of the new technology.
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