Public-records advocates form state group
By The Associated Press
01.31.03
PIERRE, S.D. — A group has been formed to educate people about state laws that give the public access to government records.
South Dakotans for Open Government will help citizens, government officials and organizations understand the state's open-records laws.
"South Dakota's sunshine laws are a patchwork quilt of statutes," said Stewart Huntington, publisher of the Black Hills Pioneer and president of the new group. "We felt the need for some group to stand up for the mechanisms that keep our government open."
Chuck Baldwin, editorial editor at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and secretary of the group, said he has high hopes for the open-government group.
"Maybe this will lead to greater accountability in government," he said. "People in South Dakota truly trust the government, but we can trust them more if we know what the government is doing."
Many South Dakotans feel that what goes on in government is not their business, but education on open records could make them become more involved, said Dale Blegen, publisher of the De Smet News and the group's vice president.
State Attorney General Larry Long and Auditor Richard Sattgast already have joined the group, Huntington said.
The organization is recruiting members from all backgrounds.
"We're not setting out to be a newspaper group," Huntington said. "We're recruiting membership and board members from all walks of personal and public life in South Dakota."
The group's formation comes in the wake of an open-records survey by the state's daily newspapers last summer and the formation of a task force by Long to examine the state's open-records laws.
South Dakotans for Open Government received a $10,000 grant earlier in the year from the National Freedom of Information Coalition with funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
Other officers include treasurer Dave Bordewyk of the South Dakota Newspaper Association, and past-president Tim Waltner of the Freeman Courier.
Tena Haraldson, bureau chief for the Associated Press in North Dakota and South Dakota, is a member of the group's interim board.
Anyone interested in joining the group may call the South Dakota Newspaper Association at 1-800-658-3697. The organization's first meeting will be in Rapid City in May.