The Senate floor at the state Capitol during the 2024 Legislature. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
South Dakota legislative leaders recently ordered the removal of lawmakers’ home addresses from the Legislature’s website in response to the shootings of two lawmakers and their spouses in Minnesota.
The decision is about personal safety, said state Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls.
Legislative staff removed addresses, cities of residence and ZIP codes from lawmakers’ profile pages and from a downloadable list of legislators. Lawmakers’ cities of residence are still viewable on the “historical listing” section of the website, and Karr said the cities of residence could eventually be restored on the profile pages.
With so many other modern methods of communication, Karr said he doesn’t see a reason why a constituent needs home addresses of legislators. He views that removal as permanent.
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“Access is important to us, and I believe in our citizen legislature,” Karr said, “but I think there are plenty of points of access that are easier than knocking on my door and scaring my family just in the hope that I’m here.”
Other state legislatures have taken similar actions since the shootings. North Dakota, Idaho and Maine are among the states that have removed lawmaker addresses from their legislative websites. Colorado temporarily took down its public campaign finance database after dozens of elected officials requested their information be removed.
Some states, including Georgia and Louisiana, passed laws in recent years preventing their secretary of state from publishing residential addresses of people involved in political campaigns. Oregon lawmakers passed a bill the day before the Minnesota shootings to conceal addresses of elected officials and candidates.
South Dakotans can reach lawmakers by calling their Capitol phone number, by emailing their legislative address, by sending them mail at the Capitol address, or by personal phone for those that include their number on their profile page. About one-third of lawmakers don’t list a personal phone number.
Karr said he has had angry constituents visit his home. Other lawmakers have had constituents approach their families or children, sometimes with verbal attacks, he said.
People who take the initiative to knock on a lawmaker’s door about an issue are “usually upset and not the most conducive to conversing, discoursing and solving a problem,” Karr added.
“We deal with people who get very upset and angry at us and like to blame us,” Karr said. “I think you have to be aware and cognizant of that and not naive. There are people who take it too far.”
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