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Tuesday,
November 05, 2002
Tuesday, Sept 24, 2002
POLL: A statewide poll shows what residents think.
Police least likely to offer information
When a man strolled into the Sioux Falls school district's administrative
offices unannounced and asked how much certain officials are paid,
Bev Chase, executive assistant to the business manager, quickly
jotted down their names and salaries without giving it a second
thought.
47% support sunshine law for access,
poll shows
Almost half of South Dakota's residents support enacting a Freedom
of Information law, which would provide open access to almost
all government records, a new statewide poll shows. That's more
than twice the number who oppose such a law. But more than a third
are undecided, a strong indication that many residents are oblivious
to government information laws.
Monday, Sept 23, 2002
CHANGES: Attempts to improve find little success.
Improving open government laws a
formidable task
Weekly newspaper owner Dale Blegen sees every reason to change
the state's open meeting and open records laws. Blegen, who has
owned the De Smet News for 25 years, knows he's publishing his
newspaper in a state with some of the nation's weakest laws on
meetings and records.
Technology both improves, complicates
public access
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.
Sunday, Sept 22, 2002
LAWS: South Dakota's open government laws are the nation's
weakest.
S.D. ranks last in open government
Bison rancher Ridge Veal admits he never gave South Dakota's open
meetings law much thought. That is, until the spring of 2000,
when the Perkins County Commission went behind closed doors to
examine land sales and set assessments that ultimately would determine
what he and other area ranchers would owe in property taxes.
Balancing fairness, access
Most court proceedings in South Dakota are open to the public,
but judges in high-profile cases commonly issue gag orders preventing
participants from talking to news reporters during the case. And
the state was the last in the nation to allow cameras in courtrooms,
a practice adopted in some states two decades ago.
Comparing access to open meetings
and record laws
The National Freedom of Information Coalition has assembled a
summary of open meetings and records laws. Here's a look at provisions
in South Dakota and area states.
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