Madison Daily Leader - Open records task force's first duty: clarify the law

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Madison Daily Leader	home : news : news : opinion

Open records task force's first duty: clarify the law

By JON M. HUNTER, Publisher

08/20/2007

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A law isn't effective unless it's clear to everyone.

South Dakota's open records laws are a hodgepodge of statutes all over state government. They are difficult to find, they sometimes conflict with one another and neither public officials or government employees really understand them. All this creates a difficult situation for citizens and government alike.

Many other states have overriding laws that read something like: "All records maintained by the state of ....... are to be open to the public, with the exception of ......"

Attorney General Larry Long realizes this and has formed a task force to remedy the problem. The Open Government Task Force, which includes members from state and local government agencies and news organizations, will discuss rewriting the legal definition of public records and consider what information should be kept confidential. The task force will likely discuss establishing procedures for resolving disputes about whether records are open.

The attorney general's office has just completed a study of government records in South Dakota. The task force's first assignment will be to understand current laws and practices, then move to what we believe are its ultimate goals: clarify the open records laws so that every one understands them, and to make South Dakota a place where citizens have access to all information that helps them participate in a government "of the people, by the people and for the people."

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