County attorney walks Pennington County Planning Commission through annual open-meetings review

Tyler Sobczak of the State's Attorney's Office conducted the Planning Commission’s required annual review of South Dakota’s open-meetings laws at the March 9 meeting, summarizing statutory notice requirements, permissible grounds for executive session, teleconference and recording rules, and the process for complaints and referrals to the Open Meetings Commission.

Sobczak explained that SDCL chapter 1-25 requires official meetings of public bodies to be public with advance notice and that teleconferences are permissible only if the public has a place to participate. He emphasized that motions to enter executive session should cite the specific statutory subsection supporting the closed session — for example, "pursuant to SDCL 1-25-2(3) for litigation purposes with counsel" — to make the purpose clear while avoiding disclosure of privileged details.

On enforcement, Sobczak said prosecutorial action under the statute is rare and most matters are handled by referral to the Open Meetings Commission, which can issue reprimands; he noted that Pennington County had a prior referral that resulted in a public-reprimand route. He also reviewed public-records posting requirements (SDCL 1-27 series) and cautioned commissioners about substantive deliberations via email or other electronic communications when a quorum could be involved.

Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the meaning of "sovereign power," public-notice timing for special or rescheduled meetings, whether public tours must be noticed, and when action on committee reports should be deferred to a subsequent meeting. After the presentation, the chair moved that the commission acknowledge receipt and review of the Attorney General’s materials pursuant to SDCL 1-25-13; the motion was seconded and carried. Sobczak and commissioners agreed to aim for an earlier annual review in January going forward.