Prison task force rejects original Lincoln County site, tightens budget for new facility

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Mike Quinn and Mike Conder of Arrington Watkins consultants in Phoenix, speak to members of the Project Prison Reset work group on June 3, 2025 in Pierre, SD. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE – After years of political upheaval, court battles and legislative tugs-of-war, the plan to build a new men's prison in Lincoln County south of Harrisburg is dead.
Members of the Project Prison Reset work group spent more than eight hours at the Capitol on Tuesday running through possible site locations, building designs, budget needs and public comments before voting unanimously to scratch the original site from its list of replacement options for the aging state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
Also gone? The former Citibank site in Sioux Falls, a patch of land outside of Huron, a former cheese plant in Grant County – and more than $50 million in cash, spent to prepare the Lincoln County site for a prison that now won't be built.
The members set a $600 million cap on a penitentiary replacement, budgeting for between 1,500 and 1,700 beds – about the same capacity as the original Lincoln County site, but $125 million under that version's guaranteed maximum price.
The legislature spent three years dumping money into an incarceration construction fund in the run up to February, the month lawmakers balked at the Lincoln County project's location and price tag. The project needed but couldn't secure two-thirds majority support. The failure spurred the creation of the prison reset group by Gov. Larry Rhoden, who'd pushed for the Lincoln County prison.
Now, the task force has asked the state's contractor, JE Dunn, to study a site in Mitchell, another near Worthing, and state-owned land on the grounds of the Mike Durfee Prison in Springfield and at the penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
House Speaker and task force member Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said the new parameters are a 'departure' from the original plan, but a 'necessary step' to find consensus.
'The Legislature has already said we don't need that big of a prison, we don't want to spend that much money all in one big shot,' Hansen said.
In a report presented to the group Tuesday, consultants with Phoenix-based Arrington Watkins Architects projected that the state's total prison population will grow by 31.7% by 2036 — from 3,926 in 2025 to 5,172 in 2036. That's largely driven by the state's truth in sentencing law, which requires people convicted of violent offenses to serve between 85% and 100% of their sentences, depending on the category of their crime.
Even without considering projected growth in prison population, the consultants said, every correctional facility in South Dakota is beyond its capacity now. The state needs more than 1,500 beds to deal with current capacity issues at Durfee and the penitentiary are needed immediately.
'You need to build beds now,' said Mike Quinn, managing principal at Arrington Watkins.
Report: Tough-on-crime policies could push prison construction costs as high as $2.1 billion
The parameters set Tuesday significantly restrict the project's scope, said Vance McMillan, senior vice president of JE Dunn. That includes additions to existing facilities or building cheaper, steel-celled options that'll last 50 years. The original campus-style prison was meant to stand for 100 years.
'A hundred years is out the door with the new budget challenge, in my opinion,' McMillan said.
That 'not really' a responsible use of taxpayer funds, Senate Majority Leader Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, told South Dakota Searchlight. But it's politically necessary.
The $600 million cap is more 'palatable,' he said, since it's roughly the amount of money the state has on hand to fund the project already.
'We have nearly 800 inmates living in a medieval setting,' Mehlhaff said, referencing the penitentiary in Sioux Falls, which opened in 1881 and predates statehood. 'We have to do something to correct that as soon as possible.'
The state engineer and contractors are expected to present designs that meet the new parameters by the task force's July 8 meeting. Legislators will convene for a special session at the state Capitol on July 22.
JE Dunn will present options, but McMillan said they might not be able to pull together many details in five weeks.
Open process and publicity draw wide range of offers for state prison site
Members of the task force, especially the lawmakers, want to build on or expand upon existing prison sites. Increasing capacity on land the state already uses for prisons avoids the public's general distaste for a new location, said Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton. Lems was an outspoken opponent of the original Lincoln County site.
'You take some of the heartburn away,' she said. 'Then you just deal with the money.'
JE Dunn representatives said the state could expand capacity at Springfield with new dorms or barracks facilities for around $55 million. A barracks would fit another 420 minimum security beds in an open space filled with bunkbeds.
Members also considered building a compact facility on unused acres at the state penitentiary and adding a second floor to the Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls.
Options to build on existing DOC land is limited and more costly, because it would limit a construction workforce to non-felons, take more time to get in and out of the site, and impact operational hours, said Sen. Ernie Otten, R-Tea. JE Dunn representatives estimated it'd cost more than $130 million to build 192 beds on top of the facility.
'Modifying Jameson is a no-go,' Otten said.
Business and local government leaders from Mitchell enthusiastically pitched their site to the task force. The city brought letters and resolutions of support and said a prison would drive economic growth.
The site got a tepid recommendation from consultants because it's about an hour's drive from Sioux Falls. It's also located next to several possible escape routes:he interstate, the James River and a railroad.
The Mitchell City Council unanimously approved a resolution supporting the prison being built in Davison County.
But division is already surfacing in the community. Mitchell residents voiced concerns at its Monday city council meeting. According to reporting from the Mitchell Republic, some residents are concerned about the prison's location, parolees released in the city, property taxes and a lack of a citywide vote on the matter.
Sen. Joy Hohn, R-Hartford, said she listened to the city council meeting and said residents are 'just becoming aware of the proposal.'
City officials plan to hold community forums to increase awareness, educate residents about the impacts, and listen to concerns from community members.
The DOC plans to survey its staff to determine if they're willing to commute to Mitchell or Worthing.
The Worthing site in Lincoln County received a slightly more positive response from consultants, but the only speaker during public testimony who spoke to the location raised concerns about drainage and flooding at the site.
Several members said they'd vote for the budget restrictions and new plan, but added they might not be able to support a decision next month.
Rep. Tim Reisch, R-Howard, is a former Department of Corrections secretary. He aired 'serious operational concerns' about the current administration's handling of the prison in recent months and years due to recent suicides, overdoses, attacks on correctional officers and gang activity.
Reisch recalled walking through the minimum custody unit during a penitentiary tour and observing that of 230 inmates in the unit, 'only nine of them had jobs, and the rest of them were sitting around watching Oprah Winfrey every day.'
'These are inmates that are getting ready to go out and rejoin society,' Reisch said, 'and we are failing them.'
Venhuizen told reporters after the meeting he believes it would be easier to manage such issues in a more modern facility.
Sioux Falls Democrats Sen. Jamie Smith and Erin Healy both expressed hesitancy. The budget could limit space needed for rehabilitation and education efforts, they both said.
Healy emphasized that her 'number one goal' is to build a safe prison with proper rehabilitation space.
'We absolutely need to ensure that our responsibility for taking care of people is of our greatest concern,' Healy said.
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