Evaluation of South Dakota county websites

This municipal government-related article was part of the Sunshine Review website. Ballotpedia archived this article to preserve its historical content.

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My Government Website
Transparency Checklist Progress reports County website project County comparison chart City website project List of cities School district website project List of school districts

Below is a chart evaluating the transparency efforts of South Dakota county websites.

See also: County websites, state-by-state comparison, to compare what you can find on South Dakota's county websites to what can be found on county websites in other states.

Reading the chart

In the chart below:

	means that information is included on the government website
	means that the information was not provided on the government website
P	means that information was partially provided

Check the page about each county for more detailed information about what information is available on the county website, along with recommendations users have made for positive changes.

Conclusions chart

2012

This chart encompasses the 5 largest counties in South Dakota: Minnehaha County, Pennington County, Lincoln County, Brown County, and Brookings County. These counties averaged a "D" website transparency grade in 2012.

	Budget?	Meetings?	Elected officials?	Admin. Officials?	Permits/ Zoning?	Audits?	Contracts?	Lobbying?	Public records?	Taxes?
Y	2	2	3	3	2	1	0	1	0	2
P	2	2	2	2	3	0	1	0	0	2
N	1	1	0	0	0	4	4	4	5	1

2009

Only 23 of the 66 counties in South Dakota actually have a website. The average website transparency grade in 2009 was an "F" for all of South Dakota counties. Some key things discovered when measuring their transparency against the county website 10-point checklist:

• Minnehaha County has the most transparent website of counties in South Dakota, scoring 6 out of a possible 10, with 3 partials. The one area where the county offered no information was in disclosing whether or not the county is a member of any lobbying organizations, and if so, if county funds go to pay the organization dues.

• Beadle County fared the worst against the 10 point checklist, failing to score full points in any category.

• 19 of the 23 counties with websites gave useful contact information for administrative staff, and 18 of the 23 gave the same for elected officials.

• Although three counties scored points for posting the county budget online, no counties made their checkbook register available for inspection.

Comparison chart

South Dakota County Website Evaluations (Performed 2009-2012)
County	Grades	Budget	Meetings	Elected Officials	Admin. Officials	Permits/Zoning	Audits	Contracts	Lobbying	Public records	Taxes
Beadle County, South Dakota	F	N	P	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	N
Brookings County, South Dakota	D	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	N	N	N	N	N
Brown County, South Dakota	F	N	N	P	P	P	N	N	N	N	P
Brule County, South Dakota	F	N	P	P	P	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Clark County, South Dakota	F	N	N	P	P	N	N	N	N	N	Y
Clay County, South Dakota	F	N	P	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N
Codington County, South Dakota	D	N	Y	Y	Y	P	N	N	N	Y	N
Custer County, South Dakota	D	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	P	N
Davison County, South Dakota	D-	N	Y	Y	P	N	N	N	N	Y	N
Deuel County, South Dakota	C-	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Hughes County, South Dakota	D-	N	P	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N
Lake County, South Dakota	F	N	N	P	Y	N	N	N	N	Y	N
Lawrence County, South Dakota	D	N	P	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	Y
Lincoln County, South Dakota	F	P	P	Y	P	P	N	N	N	N	P
Lyman County, South Dakota	F	N	N	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N
Meade County, South Dakota	D-	N	Y	Y	Y	P	N	N	N	N	N
Miner County, South Dakota	F	N	P	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N
Minnehaha County, South Dakota	B	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	P	Y	N	Y
Moody County, South Dakota	D-	N	P	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Pennington County, South Dakota	B	Y	Y	P	P	Y	Y	Y	N	P	Y
Stanley County, South Dakota	D	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N
Sully County, South Dakota	D-	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	Y	N
Yankton County, South Dakota	D-	N	Y	Y	Y	N	N	N	N	N	N

Correcting errors

If you discover an error in this chart or on one of the articles about a South Dakota county, you can report the error by emailing us.