By Jonathan Ellis
Argus Leader

The people of South Dakota have partnered with the video lottery industry for nearly 20 years, but the people know very little about their partners. South Dakota law bars citizens from accessing other than the most basic information about the industry. South Dakota Lottery officials have details about the casinos and their owners at their fingertips but cannot release them.

"If you were in Oregon and you wanted a list of all our retailers, you could have that in three or four hours in an Excel spreadsheet," said Mary Loftin, spokeswoman for the Oregon State Lottery.

Video lottery retailers in Oregon sign contracts with the state to host the games and the state owns the machines. In South Dakota private businesses own machines. With the exception of Social Security numbers and trade secrets, "Everything here is public," Loftin said.

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