In 2020, a bill was filed in South Dakota that would have spelled out extensive rules for how police body camera footage can be obtained, maintained, used and shared.
Then-Sen. Reynold Nesiba, a Sioux Falls Democrat and primary sponsor of the bill, said that without a state law, police agencies across the state are on their own to decide how and when to use cameras, what happens to the footage and who should have access to the videos.
Without such a law, South Dakota would remain behind many other states that already regulate police videos, he said.
“In South Dakota, we have a patchwork and it depends on the individual police department … (and) I think it puts our law enforcement in a really difficult position,” said Nesiba. “I think it would be helpful to have guiding statute under what conditions it becomes a public record, who can ask for that record and under what conditions it can be released or held back.”
Opposition to the measure came from state, county and local law enforcement officials, who testified that the measure was unnecessary because police agencies across the state use a set of “best practices” to guide use of body cameras.
The six-page bill, Senate Bill 100, never made it to a vote. Instead, the measure’s original language was gutted immediately in committee and an amendment to recommend a legislative summer study session on body cameras videos was voted down.
New records laws unlikely in South Dakota
Since then, no other police video bill has been filed in the Legislature, according to a review of measures filed.
Given the current makeup of the South Dakota Legislature, support for enacting legislation related to release of police videos appears unlikely, said David Bordewyk, executive director of the South Dakota NewsMedia Association.
“We are on an island because our law is so weak in this area. And a consequence is loss of public trust and having full confidence in the accountability of law enforcement,” he said. “That’s not to say that distrust is the default because it’s not. But by not having good public access to these types of records, it can feed distrust and misinformation in the community.”
You can read the full article at the South Dakota News Watch.