It's Time to Act on South Dakota's New State Penitentiary

For years, South Dakota has grappled with the fact that its 144-year-old State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls needs replacement, yet consensus on where and how to build it has remained elusive. 

Governor Larry Rhoden created the Project Prison Reset task force earlier this year to achieve consensus to solve this problem. Governor Rhoden challenged us with a straightforward mission of answering three questions: 1) Determine if we need a new penitentiary; 2) Decide what kind of facility we should build; and 3) Recommend where it should be located. 

The task force included legislators, law enforcement, and other stakeholders. Over the course of four public meetings, we toured facilities, studied data, heard more than eight hours of public testimony, and reviewed hundreds of written comments. Our work was conducted openly, and every voice, whether supportive or skeptical, was heard. 

Our open and transparent process worked. Task force members who began on opposite sides came together to unanimously recommend a plan that South Dakota can and should support. In fact, we voted unanimously in our answers to each of Governor Rhoden’s three questions. 

The task force unanimously recommended that the aging penitentiary be replaced with a 1500-bed facility, built to last 100 years, at a cost not to exceed $650 million. Our contractors are confident they can sharpen their pencils and reach this target. 

This design includes a modern intake for new inmates. It also enhances rehabilitation by including the same programming spaces as the proposed Lincoln County design, including increased space for education, treatment, medical services, and re-entry programming. It is a massive improvement over the existing facility and will allow us to do a better job preparing inmates to reenter society, so they do not re-offend and return to incarceration. 

More than a dozen potential sites were evaluated, and two locations in northeast Sioux Falls emerged as the best options. Both offer ready access to utilities and emergency services, an easy transition for staffing, and a location in the city and county that has already been home to the state penitentiary for more than a century. They rate just as well as the previously proposed Lincoln County site. Although there will be some transition costs in changing locations, the Sioux Falls sites also save us approximately $18 million due to ready access to existing utility infrastructure. 

South Dakota is fortunate that Governor Noem and legislators set aside the funds to pay for a new prison. We also do not need to cut corners. We have seen other states, in weaker financial positions, make difficult decisions to build cheaper, shorter-life structures, and to exclude programming spaces. Our strong financial position means we don’t have to take those shortcuts. We can build high-quality facility now and avoid even higher costs in the future. And we will also avoid having to bond for this facility, which will save South Dakota taxpayers over a half-billion dollars in the long-term. 

The task force’s recommendation was unanimous. It represents a hard-won compromise by people who began with very different views. We listened, we adjusted, and we found common ground. Now, we must act. 

Every month we delay, costs go up – due to inflation, rising material costs, and ongoing maintenance of our aging facility. South Dakota has the money to do this. We can pay for this project without new taxes or debt. It’s time to move forward, put this issue behind us, and build the penitentiary our state needs for the next century. Let’s get this done – for public safety, for fiscal responsibility, and for the future of South Dakota. 

Tony Venhuizen serves as the 40^th Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota. At Governor Larry Rhoden’s direction, he served as Chairman of the Project Prison Reset task force.