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• "To have that recording there really hampers their discussions," said Wade Pogany, executive director of the Associated School Boards of South Dakota.
• Seth Tupper, editor of the Mitchell Daily Republic, said boards and commissions could easily record closed meetings by buying a $50 digital recorder and switching it on.
• One significant measure endorsed by the panel would make criminal mug shots public records. Such mug shots now are usually released only when someone escapes from custody. The proposal also clarifies that police logs of calls for service can be released to reveal the date, time and general location and subject of the call, a practice already followed by many law enforcement agencies.
• Another proposal supported by the panel would make more committees, subcommittees and task forces subject to the open meetings law.
• In addition, three-member boards of townships, road districts and small towns would not violate the open meetings law if two or more members met to do work previously approved in a public meeting. In most townships, the elected supervisors also are the ones who actually fix roads or bridges.
• The task force also recommended that government agencies be required to consider the ease and affordability of public access to information when they set up electronic record-keeping systems. Those agencies also would have to tell people what information they hold to help people understand what they can request.
• The panel rejected a proposal that would have required government agencies to disclose settlement agreements. Supporters said agencies should reveal such settlements because they involve the spending of government funds, but state officials said disclosing settlements would encourage other people to seek similar payments in similar situations.
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