Implicated Individual News Today

The search warrant affidavits were unsealed Thursday after a two-year legal battle into why Sanford was being investigated for child pornography.

A spokesperson for the South Dakota Attorney Generals Office said charges were never lodged against Sanford in the case.

The South Dakota Supreme Court has ruled it agrees with a circuit court ruling to unseal search warrant affidavits related to the investigation into T. Denny Sanford.

Thursday, the SD Supreme Court ruled the public does have that right to know investigative details about the namesake of the Sanford Health system.

Sanfords lawyers had sought affidavits to determine whether a decision ordering their release should be appealed.

Search warrants were obtained in the investigation into T. Denny Sanford in 2019 and 2020. ProPublica won a legal fight to access the records.

Ruling that the question was not even close, the South Dakota Supreme Court decided that state law clearly requires making most search warrant information public. The high court heard oral arguments in August and made its opinion public on Thursday, Oct. 28. An unnamed appellant is trying to keep details of five search warrants sealed, but the Supreme Court says state law, constitutional law, and common law outweigh judicial authority to manage records.