Ten Business Days Means Ten Business Days

South Dakota’s public records law is straightforward. When a citizen submits a written records request, the public records officer must respond within ten business days. The response can provide the records, deny the request with a written explanation, or acknowledge the request and provide an estimate of the additional time needed to respond.

What the law does not say is that a public entity may simply ignore the request while it hires an attorney.

Hiring legal counsel does not stop the clock. The ten-business-day requirement still applies. If the public records officer fails to respond within that timeframe, the request is deemed denied under South Dakota law.

In this case, the Road District held a special meeting, hired an attorney, and spent public funds to address two simple records requests.

The requests themselves were not complicated:

• What research or authority was relied upon when the Board stated that a fundraiser would be unlawful?

• How did the District’s official count of landowners change from 34 to 33?

Citizens should not have to fight for answers to basic questions about the operation of their local government.

South Dakota’s open records laws exist because government records belong to the public. Compliance is not optional, and transparency should not require legal intervention.

The question is simple: If the Board can spend taxpayer money to hire a lawyer, why can’t it spend a few minutes answering the questions?