(EDITOR'S NOTE: The Journal sent two reporters to Butte, Pennington, Lawrence, Custer, Meade and Fall River counties July 7 to test government openness and compare their results with an Associated Press open records test in 2002. The reporters acted as ordinary citizens seeking public information and did not identify themselves as members of the news media unless specifically asked.)

A new open records law went into effect on July 1, but that doesn't change the inconsistency in how police reports are disseminated by Black Hills law enforcement agencies.

In a survey conducted this month, the Rapid City Journal found that two Hills counties publicly posted their previous day's call sheets; others would not release the information.

"It's not to say that they can't give it to you, but there is no law that says they have to give it you," said Jon Arneson, attorney for the South Dakota Newspaper Association. "You may get some, you may not get some."

Although new law SB-147 gives the public power to examine all records unless otherwise closed by the state, Section 23-5-11 of the law states that releasing crime reports is up to the individual department's discretion.

There are a lot of potential exceptions in the new law.

"I think that it's probably not a perfect law by any means," said David Bordewyk, SDNA general manager. Crime logs are part of a "laundry list of exceptions as to what can be or may be confidential that is pretty extensive and broad."

South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long said full police logs are not generally open to the public because there is often information on a log sheet that should remain confidential.

"Let's say, for example, someone has been picked up on a mental illness. That's typically confidential," he said. "There's information that shows up on log sheets that could be medical information - that's typically confidential."

Though crime logs may not be considered open by law, Long said the Journal "should've got the information" and that law enforcement officials are allowed to release some information upon request.

"There is a category of records called 'calls for service' that are available," Long said. "Information about calls for service - date, time, general location - may be released to the public."

During the survey, however, not all law enforcement agencies complied.

• Custer County Sheriff's Department would not release any information.
• Spearfish Police Department did not release any information.
• Sturgis Police Department released just one incident report, the one with the least amount of information to redact.
• Meade County Sheriff's Department provided a two-month-old incident report.
• Lawrence County Sheriff's Department would also not release any information.

However, two Black Hills counties post their call logs publicly.

Pennington County and Rapid City Police Department publish daily crime logs online and, in addition, the RCPD has the log information available at the front desk. The RCPD has published their log daily for more than 11 years, specifically for the public. The log can also be found online at www.rcgov.org/police/crime-statistics.asp.

In Fall River, the sheriff's department posts its crime log on a bulletin board, redacting names and addresses. Ron Mraz, chief deputy sheriff, said the department began posting the public log after a request from the media.

"Basically, what we do is print out a public log and don't name any confidential information," Mraz said.

Mraz said the department keeps names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other information off the public log to avoid identity theft. He said people often come in to look at the log and enjoy having it available in the office.

But Fall River and Pennington counties appear to be the exception in the Black Hills.

The Belle Fourche Sheriff's department said it could not release the information and directed the Journal to the dispatch department for call sheets instead.

"If you were told to go to dispatch, that was a legal answer," Long said.

Lt. Ross Johnson with the Spearfish Police Department, which did not release information, said it does not publish a police log now that its system is automated. It does have reports for statistical purposes on the types of calls and number of calls. Information that can be released is "all your basic stuff."

The Spearfish Police Department did not release the information when asked, Johnson said, because the department keeps a weekly log instead of a daily log, which was the record requested.

"It's up to the departments, and the people who are giving it to you," Arneson said.

"I fully expect the open records law … will be tweaked over time," Bordewyk added.

- Josephine Kerk contributed to this report.