South Dakota Open Meetings Law
The South Dakota Open Meetings Law legislates the methods by which public meetings are conducted. Chapter 1, section 25 statutes 1-9 of the South Dakota Codified Laws define the law. The law states that all official meetings, including teleconferencing must be open to the public, unless members of a political subdivision are attending a meeting of the state. If violated, it is considered a class two misdemeanor.
Open Meetings Law SDCL Chapter 1-25
Closed: Legal matters; employee or student performance; labor negotiations; and pricing strategies by publicly-owned competitive businesses.
South Dakota Sunshine Law
The South Dakota Sunshine Law is a series of laws designed to guarantee that public has access to public records of governmental bodies. Public records are defined as all records kept by public bodies in South Dakota, no matter the physical form. The state also offers OpenSD, a search-able website with many public documents available.
Anyone may request public records and a statement of purpose is not required. There are no restrictions on the use of records in the South Dakota Sunshine Law, nor is there a specified response time.
Sunshine Law SDCL Chapter 1-27
Exempt: Savings and loan association reports; school records; juvenile court records; adoption records; hospital licensing and inspection information; and medical research information.
Visit, South Dakota Sample FOIA Request, to view a sample FOIA request for the state.