Gov. Rhoden Announces Operation: Prairie Thunder

Major Public Safety Initiative in Sioux Falls Metro Area 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - On July 28, 2025, Governor Larry Rhoden announced Operation: Prairie Thunder – a comprehensive, targeted public safety initiative to protect South Dakotans, especially in the Sioux Falls metro area. 

“We are keeping South Dakotans strong, safe, and free. When it comes to safety, one of our biggest opportunities to move the needle is right here in Sioux Falls, and that’s where Operation: Prairie Thunder comes in,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “We are taking decisive action to hold criminals accountable and protect our communities.” 

Governor Rhoden announced Operation: Prairie Thunder at a press conference at the Sioux Falls Public Safety Campus. Operation: Prairie Thunder has two main components:

• A targeted anti-crime initiative in the Sioux Falls metro to interdict drugs, investigate gang activity, hold parole absconders accountable, and deter lawlessness; and
• A comprehensive effort to support the work of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) secure our borders and deport illegal alien criminals.  

The targeted anti-crime initiative in the Sioux Falls metro includes:

• Providing 10-15 Highway Patrol troopers for monthly saturation patrols over the next five months;
• Deploying aerial assets including the South Dakota National Guard (SDNG) Lakota helicopters and the South Dakota Highway Patrol airplane to help with drug interdiction and traffic enforcement;
• Utilizing Department of Corrections (DOC) Parole Agents and the Absconder Apprehension Unit to assist with apprehensions and lists of fugitives, absconders, and other intelligence; and
• Coordinating all efforts through the existing local crime task forces in the Sioux Falls area. 

The comprehensive effort to support ICE’s work includes:

• Equipping the South Dakota Highway Patrol to assist with ICE’s actions to keep America safe – a partnership that the Governor previously obtained;
• Activating six SDNG soldiers to assist ICE with administrative functions; and
• Enabling DOC to work with ICE to deport offenders and transfer violent offenders for federal incarceration and assist ICE with processing and transportation of illegal alien criminals. 

“Our work alongside ICE boils down to this: Highway Patrol will support ICE with arrests. The National Guard will support ICE with processing and administrative functions. And DOC will support ICE with transportation, identifying illegal immigrants in our prisons, and getting them paroled to ICE custody,” continued Governor Rhoden. 

To facilitate the DOC component of supporting ICE, Governor Rhoden sent a letter of intent for a 287(g) agreement between DOC and Ice under the Jail Enforcement Model. He sent this letter to the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons. You can find the letter here. 

At the announcement, Governor Rhoden was joined by state, federal, city, and county law enforcement leaders including Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken, Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen, and Secretary of Public Safety Bob Perry. You can find a picture here. 

Governor Rhoden is committed to working with local leaders to identify additional ways to address these issues to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.