July 1, 1983

Mr. Gary Colwill 
Hughes County State's Attorney 
Post Office Box 1174 
Pierre, South Dakota 57501

Official Opinion No. 83-25

Access of Department of Social Services to prisoner information compiled by the Hughes County Sheriff's Office

Dear Mr. Colwill:

You have requested an official opinion from this office based on the following factual situation:

FACTS: 

The Hughes County Sheriff's Office has been requested by the Office of Child Support Enforcement of the South Dakota Department of Social Services to provide information about prisoners in the Hughes County jail who are or may be absent parents owing a child support obligation to their minor children.  The information requested includes social security number, date of birth and current address.

Based on the above facts, you have asked the following questions:

QUESTIONS: 

1.  Are jail records required to be kept by the Board of Charities and Corrections 'confidential' within the meaning of SDCL 1-27-3?

2.  If the records are confidential, does SDCL 25-7A-18 authorize the release of this information to the Office of Child Support Enforcement?

SDCL 1-27-1 provides, inter alia, as follows: 

If the keeping of a record, or the preservation of a document or other instrument is required of an officer or public servant under any statute of this state, the officer or public servant shall keep the record, document or other instrument available and open to inspection by any person during normal business hours ....

SDCL 1-27-3 provides that: 

Section 1-27-1 shall not apply to such records as are specifically enjoined to be held confidential or secret by the laws requiring them to be so kept.

The administrators of the county jails, whether sheriffs or other officers, are under a statutory obligation to keep records concerning the functioning of their facilities.  As SDCL 24-11-16 provides: 

The sheriff or other officer having charge of any jail shall keep jail records.  These records shall be carefully kept and preserved and delivered to such officer's successor in office.  Such officer shall exhibit these records to any judge of the circuit court when requested to do so.

The above statute does not specifically mandate that jail records be kept in a confidential or secret manner.  Therefore, in answer to Question No. 1, jail records kept by the sheriff or other officer in charge of the jail are not confidential within the meaning of SDCL 1-27-3.

SDCL 25-7A-18 requires cooperation between public agencies in the attempt to collect child support: 

The secretary [of social services] may request the cooperation of any public agency, . . . and public agencies shall cooperate in locating absent parents, in providing information about the income, resources and property of a parent, and in providing any other information necessary for the department [of social services] to perform its function under this chapter.

In regards to your second question, SDCL 25-7A-18 authorizes the release of information contained in jail records to the Department of Social Services.  Although as noted above, such information is not confidential, SDCL 25-7A-18 provides additional support for the release of jail records for the purpose of aiding in the collection of child support.

Respectfully submitted,

Mark V. Meierhenry
Attorney General