By Chuck Clement
The Capital Journal (Pierre, S.D.)
Oct. 10, 2005
Excerpt:
While South Dakotans may not have the worst of times in
knowing what’s going on with their state and local governments, there’s
still room for improvement in guaranteeing the public’s right to know.That observation was the general opinion of three board members of
South Dakotans for Open Government when they spoke to librarians on
Oct. 6 at the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre. Chuck Baldwin, SDOG
president and editorial page editor for the Sioux Falls Argus Leader,
said the status of open government in South Dakota resembles a mixed
bag with some recent improvements and some setbacks in letting the
public join the governing process.“There is much that is encouraging, but there is much that is dismal,” Baldwin said.
[…]
Baldwin told the audience that the state has made some progress during
the last several years. State Attorney General Larry Long has organized
a commission to review violations of South Dakota’s open-meetings laws,
and violations of the state’s gag law are no longer considered
felonies. The state has also told law enforcement agencies that they
can open their log books to the public.However, Baldwin added that some local officials are interpreting the
state laws to indicate that they can close many public records. In
addition, genealogists, journalists and other groups had to fight
against an attempt during the last legislative session to close public
records — including birth, death and marriage records — from
disclosure to residents of South Dakota.Baldwin said Gov. Mike Rounds has made some efforts to improve public
access to government by placing on the state medical board’s Web site
the disciplinary actions that the board has made in reprimanding
physicians. State government has placed more lay people on regulatory
boards, and the governor has opened more state contracts to an open
bidding process. However, Baldwin said state government hasn’t
completely opened all of the bidding process and officials have kept
some bids under wraps.
