RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) - Concerns over privacy have delayed for more than a year the launch of a website that will let South Dakotans view public court records from any computer.
The website launch originally planned was planned for late 2019 or early 2020. The website would allow the public to view unsealed court documents for 10 cents per page from any computer at any time of day.
But the administrator of the South Dakota Unified Judicial System, Greg Sattizahn, tells the Rapid City Journal the website is now estimated to go online in the summer of 2021. The Unified Judicial System is still trying to find a service that will redact sensitive information in otherwise public documents, Sattizahn said.
Sattizahn pointed to North Dakota’s trouble launching a similar system on Jan. 1. The program was taken down six days later because documents included information that was supposed to be redacted such as Social Security numbers, birth dates, minor’s names and financial account numbers, The Bismarck Tribune reported.
In the meantime, people who want to view and print state court records in South Dakota will only be able to access them on computers at state courthouses. Federal court records can be viewed for a fee at any time through pacer.gov.
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