Prison task force plans to take public testimony
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The agenda is out for the first meeting next week of the group that will recommend what direction South Dakota should head on a new men's prison.
The Prison Project Reset task force, appointed last month by Gov. Larry Rhoden, is scheduled to gather on the morning of Wednesday, April 2, for an 8 a.m. tour of the current State Penitentiary and Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls that the new prison would largely replace.
State Supreme Court hears NOPE case Tuesday
After a lunch break, the group will tour the state government-owned site between Harrisburg and Canton in Lincoln County, where the state Department of Corrections had planned construction of the new prison.
The group will meet for a second day on Thursday, April 3, starting at 8 a.m., at the South Dakota Military Heritage Alliance building in Sioux Falls, located at 1600 W. Russell Street.
The members are scheduled on that second morning to receive an overview of South Dakota's current DOC facilities and four presentations before breaking for lunch.
Starting at 12:30 p.m. on April 3, the group plans to take public testimony. The group's chair, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, is in charge of deciding the duration of time each person can testify.
4.02.25.Meeting.AgendaDownload
'My hope is that I don't have to be too restrictive,' Venhuizen told KELOLAND News on Wednesday, March 26. 'I will ask testifiers to try to stay at ten minutes or so, and not to repeat prior testimony. We should have a couple hours and I want to be sure everyone is heard.'
Venhuizen said written comments and materials can also be submitted for distribution to the committee. Emailed comments and materials can be sent here.
How we got here
In her December 2021 budget address to the Legislature, then-Gov. Kristi Noem referred to a study that showed South Dakota had some $600 million in Department of Corrections needs. She suggested that state lawmakers start setting aside funds to meet those needs. In response, during the 2022 legislative session, the state incarceration fund was established.
In February 2022, Gov. Noem announced the appointment of Kellie Wasko as state secretary of corrections. Wasko began on March 7 of that year, and DOC officials worked several years developing the plan for a new men's prison.
In October 2023, Noem's office announced the purchase of 300 acres of farm land in Lincoln County from the state Office of School and Public Lands.
But in 2024, the Legislature passed and Noem signed into law Senate Bill 201, dealing with pipelines. SB 201 was referred to a statewide vote and was rejected in all but one of South Dakota's 66 counties.
Just as significantly, a dozen incumbent lawmakers who had voted yes on SB 201 during the legislative session lost in the June 2024 primary elections. That turnover brought in a new crop of legislators who hadn't been part of the previous plan to set money aside for a new prison.
Then Noem resigned as governor in January, with Rhoden automatically moving up from lieutenant governor. Secretary Wasko meanwhile raised eyebrows among lawmakers when she revealed that ongoing operational costs for the new prison would be significantly higher.
All of that led to the House of Representatives deadlocking on House Bill 1025 that originally called for authorizing construction of the new men's prison and transferring $763 million to the Department of Corrections to pay for it. An attempt to keep HB 1025 alive by amending it to only transfer $148 million into the incarceration fund also failed.
A local group calling itself Neighbors Opposing Prison Expansion aka NOPE Lincoln County meanwhile had sued state government, claiming due process wasn't followed in choosing the proposed site. The South Dakota Supreme Court heard arguments in the case earlier this week.
How the Rhoden administration responded
Gov. Rhoden then issued his first executive order establishing the Prison Project Reset panel on February 27. The order called for the group to deliver its recommendations and propose legislation to the governor by July 15. Rhoden told news reporters that he plans to call a special legislative session on July 22 regarding the matter.
Rhoden appointed the following people to the prison task force:
Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, Sioux Falls, as its chair.
Yankton Police Chief , who has been with the Yankton Police Department since August 1998.
Minnehaha County Sheriff , who served in the Sioux Falls Police Department from 1973 to 1997, when he was sworn in as Minnehaha County sheriff.
Minnehaha County State's Attorney , who took office in January 2021 and has served in various public roles as a lawyer since 2011.
Tiffany Wolfgang, CEO at Southeastern Behavioral Health Center in Sioux Falls since 2024 and previously director at South Dakota Division of Behavioral Health Services in Pierre.
Jane Wipf Pfeifle, a retired state Seventh Circuit judge based in Rapid City.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, Pierre.
Rep. Jon Hansen, Dell Rapids, attorney.
Rep. Erin Healy, Sioux Falls, philanthropy officer.
Rep. Joy Hohn, Hartford, professional pilot/farmer/business owner.
Rep. Greg Jamison, Sioux Falls, commercial real estate broker associate.
Sen. Chris Karr, Sioux Falls, business valuation analyst/financial consultant.
Rep. Jack Kolbeck, Sioux Falls, key account manager, Beal Distributing.
Sen. Steve Kolbeck, Brandon, Xcel Energy principal manager for South Dakota.
Sen. Mark Lapka, Leola, farmer/rancher.
Rep. Karla Lems, Canton, family-owned agri-businesses owner and manager.
Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, Pierre, retired, former director of state Grain Warehouse Division.
Rep. Brian Mulder, Sioux Falls, managing director at Volunteers of America-Dakotas.
Rep. Scott Odenbach, Spearfish, attorney and real estate managing broker.
Sen. Ernie Otten, Tea, retired home builder.
Rep. Tim Reisch, Howard, retired South Dakota Dept. of Corrections secretary, retired South Dakota adjutant general, former Miner County sheriff.
Sen. Jamie Smith, Sioux Falls, real estate agent and former teacher.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
3 hours ago
Minnesota budget deal cuts health care for adults who entered the US illegally
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Adults living in the U.S. illegally will be excluded from a state-run health care program under an overall budget deal that the closely divided Minnesota Legislature convened to pass in a special session Monday. Repealing a 2023 state law that made those immigrants eligible for the MinnesotaCare program for the working poor was a priority for Republicans in the negotiations that produced the budget agreement. The Legislature is split 101-100, with the House tied and Democrats holding just a one-seat majority in the Senate, and the health care compromise was a bitter pill for Democrats to accept. The change is expected to affect about 17,000 residents. After an emotional near four-hour debate, the House aroved the bill 68-65. Under the agreement, the top House Democratic leader, Melissa Hortman, of Brooklyn Park, was the only member of her caucus to vote yes. The bill then went to the Senate, where it passed 37-30. Democratic Majority Leader Erin Murphy, of St. Paul, called it 'a wound on the soul of Minnesota,' but kept her promise to vote yes as part of the deal, calling it "among the most painful votes I've ever taken." Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who insisted on maintaining eligibility for children who aren't in the country legally, has promised to sign the legislation, and all 13 other bills scheduled for action in the special session, to complete a $66 billion, two-year budget that will take effect July 1. 'This is 100% about the GOP campaign against immigrants,' said House Democratic Floor Leader Jamie Long, of Minneapolis, who voted no. 'From Trump's renewed travel ban announced this week, to his effort to expel those with protected status, to harassing students here to study, to disproportionate military and law enforcement responses that we've seen from Minneapolis to L.A., this all comes back to attacking immigrants and the name of dividing us.' But GOP Rep. Jeff Backer, of Browns Valley, the lead author of the bill, said taxpayers shouldn't have to subsidize health care for people who aren't in the country legally. Backer said California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has proposed freezing enrollment for immigrants without legal status in a similar state-funded program and that Illinois' Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, has proposed cutting a similar program. He said residents can still buy health insurance on the private market regardless of their immigration status. 'This is about being fiscally responsible,' Backer said. Enrollment by people who entered the country illegally in MinnesotaCare has run triple the initial projections, which Republicans said could have pushed the costs over $600 million over the next four years. Critics said the change won't save any money because those affected will forego preventive care and need much more expensive care later. 'People don't suddenly stop getting sick when they don't have insurance, but they do put off seeking care until a condition gets bad enough to require a visit to the emergency room, increasing overall health care costs for everyone,' Bernie Burnham, president of the Minnesota AFL-CIO, told reporters at a news conference organized by the critics. Walz and legislative leaders agreed on the broad framework for the budget over four weeks ago, contrasting the bipartisan cooperation that produced it with the deep divisions at the federal level in Washington. But with the tie in the House and the razor-thin Senate Democratic majority, few major policy initiatives got off the ground before the regular session ended May 19. Leaders announced Friday that the details were settled and that they had enough votes to pass everything in the budget package.
3 hours ago
New York lawmakers approve bill that would allow medically assisted suicide for the terminally ill
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Terminally ill New Yorkers would have the legal ability to end their own lives with pharmaceutical drugs under a bill passed Monday in the state Legislature. The proposal, which now moves to the governor's office, would allow a person with an incurable illness to be prescribed life-ending drugs if he or she requests the medication and gets approval from two physicians. A spokesperson for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she would review the legislation. The New York Senate gave final approval to the bill Monday night after hours of debate during which supporters said it would let terminally ill people die on their own terms. 'It's not about hastening death, but ending suffering,' said state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat who sponsored the proposal. Opponents have argued the state should instead improve end-of-life medical care or have objected on religious grounds. 'We should not be in the business of state-authorized suicide,' said state Sen. George Borrello, a Republican. The state Assembly passed the measure in late April. The proposal requires that a terminally ill person who is expected to die within six month make a written request for the drugs. Two witnesses would have sign the request to ensure that the patient is not being coerced. The request would then have to be approved by the person's attending physician as well as a consulting physician. The legislation was first introduced in 2016, Hoylman-Sigal said, though it has stalled year after year in the New York statehouse. Dennis Poust, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, which has opposed the measure, said 'This is a dark day for New York State." Eleven other states and Washington, D.C., have laws allowing medically assisted suicide, according to Compassion & Choices, an advocacy organization that backs the policy. Corinne Carey, the group's local campaign director, said lawmakers had 'recognized how important it is to give terminally ill New Yorkers the autonomy they deserve over their own end-of-life experiences.' 'The option of medical aid in dying provides comfort, allowing those who are dying to live their time more fully and peacefully until the end,' said Carey.
San Francisco Chronicle
4 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Exclusive: DHS secretary seeks military arrests in Los Angeles in leaked letter
One day before the Trump administration deployed U.S. Marines to confront protesters in Los Angeles, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem asked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to direct the military to detain or arrest 'lawbreakers,' a move one expert called 'a grave escalation.' A letter sent Sunday from Noem to Hegseth, obtained by the Chronicle, requested that the Pentagon give 'Direction to DoD forces to either detain, just as they would at any federal facility guarded by military, lawbreakers under Title 18 until they can be arrested and processed by federal law enforcement, or arrest them.' The military is generally barred under federal laws from taking part in domestic law enforcement. Noem's request may be a step toward the administration sidestepping those laws by invoking the Insurrection Act, two legal experts said in interviews. Noem also asked Hegseth for 'drone surveillance support' as well as weapons and logistics assistance in Los Angeles. By Monday, the Defense Department had deployed 700 Marines to Los Angeles, where they were to join more than 2,000 federalized California National Guard troops in quelling raucous immigration protests. The Pentagon and Homeland Security did not immediately return requests for comment Monday, as California sued over the deployment of troops to Los Angeles and as immigration protests spread to other cities including San Francisco. In the letter, Noem referred to an 'emergent Request for Assistance (RFA) to aid in resolving the situation in Los Angeles,' and used strong language to describe what she said was the threat posed by people protesting a series of raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. 'We need … support to our law enforcement officers and agents across Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and Federal Protective Services (FPS),' Noem wrote, 'as they defend against invasive, violent, insurrectionist mobs that seek to protect invaders and military aged males belonging to identified foreign terrorist organizations, and who seek to prevent the deportation of criminal aliens.' It's not clear what Noem meant by her reference to terrorist organizations. In the past, the Trump Administration has used the term terrorist organizations to refer to gangs. 'This is a grave escalation,' said William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and leading expert on national security law and the domestic role of the military. 'It may presage the invocation of the Insurrection Act.' Stephen Dycus, an expert in national security law and the Insurrection Act, called the requests in the memo extraordinary given that local authorities appeared to be in control of the protests. In the rare cases that such military force has been used in the past, the Vermont Law and Graduate School professor emeritus said, local law enforcement had either lost control or was refusing to act. 'Viewed all together, and more importantly in the current context, these requests can be seen as using the military, or at a minimum using that threat, to instill fear in the American people and discourage the kinds of protests that are going on in Los Angeles,' Dycus said. 'So this could be viewed as a preparation for invoking the Insurrection Act, or it could be viewed as part of a larger effort to frighten people who otherwise would exercise their first amendment guarantee of free speech and protest.' The Insurrection Act of 1792 was last used during the 1992 riots following the Rodney King police beating and trial in Los Angeles, when California's then-governor, Pete Wilson, requested military aid from President George H.W. Bush. Banks said the act should be used rarely and only in dire emergencies. 'Our society is founded on the idea that laws are enforced by civilians, first of all,' he said. 'And second, that problems going on in the states, other than the most grave situations, should be handled by the states.' Kyndra Rotunda, professor of military and international law at Chapman University, said the military's role will ultimately be decided by more than just the executive branch. 'The Posse Comitatus Act prohibits the military from engaging in domestic law enforcement without authorization from Congress,' Rotunda said. 'In light of this provision, presumably Congress or the courts will eventually weigh in as this situation continues to develop.' State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, called Noem's request an ominous step. 'This isn't what happens in a democracy, this is what happens in a dictatorship,' Wiener said. 'We have a time-honored tradition in the United States that the military does not enforce civilian law.' Military use of drones for domestic purposes carries a number of restrictions, and is largely limited to training and disaster response. Under Defense Department policy, the military can use drones within its borders in support of a request from federal or state officials, but only with approval from the secretary. Federal agencies used military drones to monitor protests following George Floyd's murder and Black Lives Matter protests. Noem asked Hegseth in her letter for 'logistical support and the transportation of munitions' from Fort Benning and Wyoming. The letter did not specify what weapons were needed nor why they were requested from those two locations. State Sen. Tom Umberg, a retired Army colonel and Judge Advocate General officer, said he found the letter's requests alarming. 'It looks like a preparation for a military assault,' said Umberg, a Democrat from Santa Ana. 'This looks like a subterfuge to create some sort of rationale for some sort of invocation of the Insurrection Act.' Umberg said he was also concerned that the letter did not explicitly say people should only be arrested or detained based on reasonable suspicion or probable cause. It would be false imprisonment to detain someone unless those conditions are met, which is a crime, he said. 'As a former federal prosecutor and former JAG officer, I find it to be outrageous that two cabinet secretaries are basically attempting to provoke a situation where both law enforcement as well as other individuals could be hurt,' Umberg said. Noem also asked for graduates 'of an advanced intermediate level school, like the Marines' School of Advanced Warfighting, to aid in developing SOPs (standard operating procedures) and TTPs (tactics, techniques and procedures) going forward for when DHS and DoD have to setup a joint operation center and work in conjunction with each other in these situations.' 'At the President's direction,' Noem wrote, 'DHS is seeking to put an end to the migrant invasion and these lawless riots.' Noem wrote that she would send a formal request 'in the coming days.'
