Governor supports legal ads in papers

Talk about it

PIERRE — Legislation intended to take some or all legal announcements out of newspapers does not have the support of Gov. Dennis Daugaard, he told a gathering of newspaper officials Thursday.

A bill has been introduced in the state House that would allow cities, schools and counties to put all of their public notices on a website of their choice instead of their official newspaper. A separate Senate bill would allow cities to publish only the titles of proposed ordinances in their official newspaper, instead of the entire text as is now required. Proponents say the measures would relieve local governments of printing costs.

Daugaard, who was elected in November and is a former legislator, said he’s seen similar bills many times in the past.

“I didn’t support it then, and I won’t support it now,” he said.

Daugaard’s comments came in response to a question from The Daily Republic during Newspaper Day activities at the Ramkota RiverCentre in Pierre. The gathering was organized by the South Dakota Newspaper Association, and dozens of newspapers from around the state were represented. Many lawmakers also took a break from the legislative session at the Capitol to attend.

Daugaard said the Internet is popular in South Dakota — in fact, he said, the state has been ranked as the top percapita user of Facebook in the nation.

But Daugaard said many South Dakotans, especially those in older generations, still depend on newspaper legal announcements to keep them informed of their local governments’ activities.

That’s especially true in rural areas with older residents and fewer Internet users, Daugaard said, where many people would not be able to find legal announcements if they were not in the local newspaper.

“The day may come when the Internet is ubiquitous and everybody prefers that as their source of information,” Daugaard said. “That day is not here.”

The newspaper association also is tracking other bills related to newspapers, public-access and government-openness issues. Among those are ones authorize the release of inmate photos; permit public bodies to keep minutes of executive sessions and restrict who may review the minutes; revise state law regarding the crime of taking photos without consent; create a penalty for denying access to public records; and require the state to make public certain information on any economic development loans, grants or tax rebates made by state government.

Dave Bordewyk, the newspaper association’s executive director and lobbyist, said there’s a “changing dynamic” at the Capitol in regard to openness issues.

Many of the champions for openness retired, failed to win re-election or left the Legislature to seek other elected offices last year. As a result, Bordewyk said, there is “a little bit of a vacuum” in place of the leadership that formerly existed on openness issues.

There is also widespread support for measures perceived as cost-cutting in nature, Bordewyk said, because of the state’s structural deficit and the governor’s proposed $127 million in budget cuts. Efforts to reduce or eliminate the printing requirements for legal announcements are often placed in the cost-cutting category.

“With the way the budget situation is that they’re facing now, any savings they can get, they’re going to latch onto,” Bordewyk said.

The newspaper association contends that publishing legals on the Internet would still require a significant investment of time and money, because new websites would have to be created and maintained.

Tags: dennis daugaard, news, state