SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO-AM) It will cost Minnehaha County "hundreds of thousands" of dollars to implement Marsy's Law, the Crime Victims Bill of Rights recently approved by South Dakota voters.
That is the educated estimate of State's Attorney Aaron McGowan, who plans to brief the Minnehaha County Commission next week on the need for additional resources.
"Frankly we need help yesterday to be in compliance," McGowan tells KELO Radio News, "Somebody has to pay for it,"
McGowan says the law is so broad in the definition of crime victims that someone who steals a pack of chewing gum is now included in the expanded victim notification program. That means more paperwork and more personnel.
Pennington County is reportedly hiring up to four additional workers. McGowan says Minnehaha County's caseload is about twice Penningtons' so will need at least four new hires.
"Responsibly four would be a conservative number for us," says Mcgowan.
State Attorney General Marty Jackley says he is using some existing state money right now to expand the notification program, including the printing of 100,000 victim notification cards that must be passed out in the counties. He says putting the entire cost of implementation on the counties would not be in "our best interest."