Can South Dakota's Bureau of Administration save money by publishing two years' worth of state agency annual reports in a single bound volume, and can it consolidate two years of one agency's reports into a single combined 1977-78 report?

Plain-English summary

State agencies in South Dakota have to make annual reports. The Bureau of Administration, sitting on a stack of those reports each year, asked AG Bill Janklow a budget-driven question: could the Bureau combine two years of reports into a single published volume, and could it consolidate an agency's two years of reports into one combined report, to save printing money?

Janklow had to start by correcting a small misstatement in the request. The questioner cited SDCL 2-28-2 as the source of the annual report requirement. Janklow noted the correct citation was the SDCL 1-28 series, but the larger point was about reproduction, not about whether the annual reports had to be made. SDCL 1-28-11 doesn't directly require the Bureau to publish a bound annual volume each year, but it does require each agency's report to be printed or reproduced in numbers sufficient to satisfy the distribution obligations to the State Library Commission and the State Publications Library Distribution Center under SDCL 1-28-14 and SDCL chapter 14-1A.

So Janklow gave qualified yeses to both questions:

1. Two years in one publication? Yes. SDCL 1-28-10 lets the Bureau decide when, how, and what may be printed or reproduced and bound into one or more volumes. The Bureau can issue a single bound volume covering 1977 and 1978 if it wants.

2. Consolidate an agency's two years of reports into a single combined 1977-78 report? Also yes, but with a sting in the tail. The consolidation power exists under SDCL 1-28-10. But SDCL 1-28-11 still requires each agency's report to be reproduced annually in distribution quantities. So the consolidation does not save the cost of distributing single-year copies to the State Library and other governmental offices, because those distribution copies are still required.

Janklow suggested that if the Bureau really wanted to streamline, the better play was to use its SDCL 1-28-6 authority to set up a shorter and more specific report form. Smaller individual reports would actually save real money on printing because both the bound volume and the distribution copies would be shorter. He also recommended a possible legislative change to chapter 1-28 to specifically address publication requirements, since the existing statutes (which separate the "publish a bound volume" question from the "distribute single-agency copies" question) made it hard to capture all the savings the Bureau wanted.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1978. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here. Statutes governing state publication, distribution, and the State Library Commission have been amended substantially since 1978. Digital distribution and online state publications have largely supplanted the printed bound-volume practice the opinion addressed.

What the opinion meant at the time

For the Bureau of Administration, the opinion gave a road map for managing the state's annual report publication burden. The Bureau could bundle multiple agencies' reports, combine multiple years, and exercise broad discretion under SDCL 1-28-10 about the timing and format of the bound volumes.

For state agencies submitting reports, the opinion was a reminder that even though the Bureau could consolidate, each agency still had to deliver its annual report to the Bureau. The distribution chain to the State Library and other offices ran on per-agency, per-year copies, not on the bundled bound volume.

For state librarians and depository librarians under chapter 14-1A, the opinion preserved the per-agency copy as the unit of distribution. Researchers and citizens could still walk into a depository library and ask for the 1977 Department of Game, Fish and Parks annual report and expect to find it, not just a 1977-78 combined volume.

For state legislators considering printing-budget reform, the opinion pointed toward a structural change. The real savings would come from reducing the size of individual reports through a streamlined SDCL 1-28-6 form, not from rearranging how they were bound.

Background and statutory framework

The SDCL 1-28 series codifies the state's framework for collecting, publishing, and distributing state agency reports. The framework reflects an early-twentieth-century model of state government transparency: each agency reports to the Governor; the Bureau of Administration acts as the publishing arm; the State Library Commission acts as the distribution arm; depository libraries across the state make the reports available to the public.

SDCL chapter 14-1A established the State Publications Library Distribution Center, a system requiring state publications to be reproduced in enough copies to populate a network of depository libraries. The Distribution Center model is itself patterned on the federal Government Publishing Office's Federal Depository Library Program.

The interpretive challenge Janklow faced was that the statutes were written assuming each agency's annual report would be both individually distributed and (perhaps) bound into a larger volume. When the Bureau started thinking about cost savings by combining years, the statutes that addressed distribution had to be reconciled with the statutes that addressed bundling. Janklow's reading kept the distribution requirements in force while letting the Bureau exercise discretion on the bundled-volume side.

The proposed legislative change Janklow suggested would have made the publication and distribution questions explicit. South Dakota's later digital-publishing developments have largely overtaken the issue; many state agency reports today exist only as PDF posted to agency websites with electronic copies sent to the State Library.

Citations

• SDCL chapter 1-28 (state publications)
• SDCL 1-28-6 (report form); SDCL 1-28-7 (publication); SDCL 1-28-10 (Bureau discretion); SDCL 1-28-11 (per-agency reproduction); SDCL 1-28-14 (distribution)
• SDCL chapter 14-1A (State Publications Library Distribution Center)
• SDCL 2-28-2 (referenced; questioner's misstated cite for agency annual reports)

Source

• Landing page: https://atg.sd.gov/OurOffice/OfficialOpinions/opinionhtml.aspx?id=1270

Original opinion text

Publishing annual reports of state agencies

Dear Mr. Kolbo:

You have asked for my advice upon the following factual situation:

FACTS:

State agencies are required to make annual reports to the Governor, SDCL 2-28-2. The Bureau of Administration is responsible for consolidating, condensing and publishing the annual reports. SDCL 1-28-6 to 1-28-14.

I can find no requirement for annual publication of the reports by the Bureau, only for annual reports by the agencies to the Governor.

Based upon the above factual situation, you have asked two questions:

QUESTIONS:

1. First, I would like to know if the Bureau may publish two years' annual reports in one publication. This would save some printing, editing and publishing expenses.

2. Second, if the Bureau may combine two years' reports in one volume, may the Bureau consolidate or condense two years' annual reports into one 1977-1978 report for each agency, or will it be necessary to print separate 1977 and 1978 reports even though they are bound together?

IN RE QUESTION NO. 1:

In the above factual statement, I believe there is a misstatement. SDCL 1-28-11 requires each state agency's report to be printed or reproduced in such numbers as the Bureau may determine. That number is based upon the provisions of SDCL 1-28-14 and SDCL 14-1A, which require sufficient copies of each agency's report to be transmitted to the State Library Commission and to the State Publications Library Distribution Center for fulfilling the requirements of Chapter 14-1A.

While there may not be a requirement that the Bureau publish the reports annually, there is a requirement that sufficient numbers be printed or reproduced annually to satisfy the requirements of section 1-28-14 and Chapter 14-1A.

The Bureau can consolidate and condense the reports as it may desire. SDCL 1-28-10 authorizes the Bureau to decide when, how and what may be printed or reproduced and bound into one or more volumes. There is no requirement that the annual reports be bound as such, but as explained above, 1-28-11 does require each agency's report to be reproduced in sufficient numbers to send to the State Library and to other governmental offices, commissions and boards.

The answer to your first question is yes. The Bureau may publish two years' annual reports in one publication.

IN RE QUESTION NO. 2:

The provisions of § 1-28-10 would authorize the Bureau to consolidate or condense two years' annual reports into one 1977-1978 report for each agency.

I do not believe this accomplishes much, however, because of the requirement of § 1-28-11, which I have discussed above. Each agency's report must still be printed or reproduced as it came to the Bureau for distribution in accordance with the provisions of section 1-28-14.

My suggestion would be that the Bureau, in setting up the report form, § 1-28-6, make the form as short and specific as possible. The reports would then be in such a condensed form that the Bureau could comply with the requirements of section 1-28-7 and also publish in bound volumes the reports pursuant to section 1-28-10. If this is not done, the red tape that you wish to cut only becomes longer and more entangling.

I would suggest a possible legislative change in Chapter 1-28 which would revise § 1-28-11 and add a new provision specifically setting forth the publication requirements.

Respectfully submitted,

William J. Janklow

Attorney General

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