West River Eagle

Passage of Marsy’s Law to impact DPS Dissemination of Information




 Officials of the South Dakota Department of Public Safety say a recently passed amendment to the South Dakota Constitution will limit the type of information that can be made available to the public, media and other professions.


 Amendment S, known as “Marsy’s Law,” was approved by voters in the Nov. 8 election. The amendment provides certain rights for crime victims and their families.  One of those rights is “to prevent the disclosure of information or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim’s family.” The amendment also affords victims the right “to be notified of any request for such information or records.”  


 DPS officials say a review of the new amendment by state government attorneys indicates that records of state reportable crashes can no longer be made available. The Office of Highway Safety’s Accident Records Reporting website has been suspended.


 At the same time, the department and  the South Dakota Highway Patrol cannot release the names of those people involved in fatal or injury-related vehicle crashes.  Other information related to the crashes still will be provided in the press release.


 “In no way should this action be blamed on any of the Department of Public Safety employees who have always willingly provided this information when requested,” says DPS Secretary Trevor Jones. “Because of the new requirements, DPS is unable to provide these services in order to comply with the precepts of the new law.”


 The new amendment went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, November 16.


 DPS officials say the review of the amendment continues and other information may also be impacted as well.



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