Council panel recommends sticking with The Dakota Scout as Sioux Falls legal newspaper
The Operations Committee voted 3-1 this week to extend the free weekly's designation for two years over a competing proposal from the Argus Leader.
This content is courtesy of SiouxFallsLive.com, a Sioux Falls news outlet that operates independently of The Dakota Scout.
A panel of Sioux Falls city councilors gave initial approval this week to continuing to place legal notices with The Dakota Scout.
The Operations Committee voted 3-1 to recommend the free weekly as the official newspaper for the next two years, beginning July 1, rather than a competing bid from the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.
The full City Council will consider the newspapers’ rate proposals on June 3.
The Dakota Scout was first awarded the contract last year after the South Dakota Legislature adjusted the parameters allowing free weeklies to qualify as legal newspapers.
That prompted a lawsuit from the Argus Leader’s parent company, Gannett. In their legal challenge, Gannett claimed The Scout did not qualify because it failed to file the necessary paperwork on time. A Minnehaha County circuit court judge, however, declined to grant Gannett’s request for a temporary injunction and Gannett later dropped the suit.
Local governments are required to place legal notices, such as meeting agendas and minutes, in print newspapers that meet several specific guidelines. It’s an important source of revenue, particularly for rural weeklies, which have pushed back against several attempts in the Legislature to eliminate the requirement, citing the need for independent and transparent access for the public.
The Dakota Scout is a news organization that was founded in 2022 by Jonathan Ellis and Joe Sneve, two former reporters of the Argus Leader. Their news can be read through online subscriptions and the weekly physical paper, which can be found at many locations in Sioux Falls.
The Argus Leader is available online and through a physical paper, but only through a subscription or retail purchase.
The discussion at the Operations Committee focused on the specifics of each bid, including the cost, size of the type, readability and availability.
The Argus Leader dropped a long-standing fee for producing necessary affidavits and notary service, making it comparable to The Scout. That prompted City Councilor Curt Soehl to back the Argus’ bid. His motion, however, did not receive a second from any of the other members.
Soehl also the lone dissenter to choosing The Scout leading up to last year’s decision by the Council as well.
Sneve challenged the claim that placing the legals in the Argus Leader would save taxpayers money. That’s because, while the per line rate is less than The Scout, the Argus has narrower columns, which wipes out the difference.
The Argus Leader prints an 8 point font on a 1.53 inch column. Their bid was 26 cents per line for 2026 and 2027.
The Dakota Scout uses a 9 point font on a 1.81 inch column. They propose 32.2 cents for 2026 and 32.8 cents for 2027, a slight increase over the current contract which is allowed under state law.
“The city will continue to find savings and additional value by sticking with our newspaper,” Sneve told Sioux Falls Live. “Readership of The Dakota Scout continues to grow each day. Our reach has grown exponentially since we were first chosen by the city as legal newspaper of record last June, and that trajectory shows no signs of slowing down.”
Councilor David Barranco said the no-cost-to-readers aspect of the weekly print edition led him to recommend The Dakota Scout.
“I do hear from people in my community that like the fact that they can grab a free, physical paper,” Barranco said. “This information may not be complete, but I have heard that more people are reading our legals now.”
He also said that the slightly larger font is easier to read.
Councilor Miranda Basye liked the free print issue that The Dakota Scout provides as well.
“I like, with The Dakota Scout, that the font is larger, and there is more space,” Basye said. “I also like and have received positive feedback from its free availability and accessibility in a wide variety of public spaces, and how easy it is to find the publication and to find the legals printed in it.”
Representatives of the Argus Leader did not attend the meeting, but a Gannett spokesperson provided a statement to Sioux Falls Live.
"Readers trust The Argus Leader for news and important information, including public notices. We believe the Argus Leader is the premier source for these advertisements and that it's a detriment to the community not to publish in our established newspaper.”
The Dakota Scout is also the legal newspaper for Minnehaha County, the Sioux Falls School District, the City of Baltic and the East Dakota Rural Water District.
Lincoln County also places legals in The Scout, though as a fourth option, rather than the three required by state law. The county has historically included the fourth paper because the Argus Leader was not headquartered in the county, a tradition the County Commission endorsed to include The Dakota Scout.
The amount of money spent by governments varies from year-to-year depending on need.
The City of Sioux Falls paid the Argus Leader more than $35,000 in 2023 and $22,300 in the first half of 2024, according to Jim David, the council’s chief administrative officer.
The city paid The Dakota Scout $12,272 in the second half of 2024 and $11,082 from Jan. 1 to April 30 of this year.
“The Dakota Scout is committed to providing fair, accurate and honest news coverage about the Sioux Falls community and its neighbors regardless of any legal newspaper designation by any government entity,” Sneve said, “but we appreciate the faith the city has placed in us.”
Content courtesy of SiouxFallsLive.com.
 | A guest post by
|
 |
|
Wouldn't exactly call the Argus competition anymore. Gannett Media took them out of the running long ago when they gave preference to unrelated national stories jaundiced with political bias instead of coverage to the news from rural communities in SD.
To each their own but so far as it goes, more SD residents want to know what's happening east and west river than they care to know about Chicago, DC or LA.
Thanks for being the local and national perspective.
As is tradition.