Latest news with #Jackley
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jackley targets $525 million for prison spending
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — South Dakota's top law enforcement officer, who sits on a task force examining where to recommend putting a new men's prison, is sharing the kind of price tag he wants to see: a cost that's notably different from a previous guaranteed maximum price as well as a fraction of what a recent consultant report recommends. Oglala Sioux Tribe sends measles alert after case in border county In February, South Dakota lawmakers voted down House Bill 1025, which would have appropriated money to build a new 1,512 men's prison in Lincoln County with a guaranteed maximum price of $825 million. The failure paved the way for Project Prison Reset and the consultant report which includes a recommendation to build a 1,728-bed replacement for the current penitentiary. The report also recommends building an additional prison or prisons and adding beds to the Sioux Falls Minimum Center. Per the report, this could all cost up to $2.1 billion. South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who sits on the task force, is targeting a price that's notably lower. 'I think there are several proposals out there,' Jackley said Tuesday. 'The ones that I'm more interested in fall in that $525 million range, 'cause again, for me this is about protecting not just the public, but the taxpayers.' That cost, Jackley says, would still pay for 1,500 beds. At the task force's most recent meeting, the group unanimously voiced approval to replace the current penitentiary. Still on Gov. Larry Rhoden's to-do list for the group is figuring out how big this facility should be and where it should go. 'We've got two meetings left before a special session,' Minnehaha County State's Attorney Daniel Haggar said Tuesday. 'I think it's important for us to address those questions that the governor has tasked us with. There's going to be a lot of conversation, and we've seen things can move slowly. They can also move quickly.' Haggar is also on the task force. As of Tuesday, he hasn't landed on a specific location. 'I'm not quite there yet,' Haggar said. 'I haven't ruled anything out.' As for Jackley, he says locations already within the Department of Corrections' orbit are possible. 'It could be utilizing existing facilities, and when I say utilizing existing facilities, that's Jameson, that's the Hill, that's Springfield,' Jackley said. 'It's areas that already exist so you don't have some of the community pushback.' The task force's next meeting is June 3 in Pierre. Eventually, the plan is for a special session of the state legislature to learn on July 22 about the group's recommendations. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Dakota Attorney General clarifies scope of immigration enforcement agreements with feds
Attorney General Marty Jackley listens to testimony at a Project Prison Reset meeting on April 29, 2025, in Springfield. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley shared Friday that the new immigration enforcement agreement he aims to enter into with federal authorities is the same type Gov. Larry Rhoden aims for, but said his agents will only use that authority in limited circumstances. The agreements let officials trained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ask people about their immigration status and make warrantless arrests for suspected violations. Jackley's requested agreement between ICE and the state Division of Criminal Investigation is limited in scope, however, he said in a Friday press release. 'To be clear, I am restricting the use of this federal authority to violent criminals and drug dealers,' Jackley said. Governor, attorney general visit the border and seek a bigger immigration enforcement role Jackley first announced his intent to pursue the agreement during a news conference this week with Republican attorneys general at the U.S.-Mexico border. At the time, the type of agreement was not specified. The news came via the release of Jackley's proposed agreement, which operates under Jackley's direction. ICE had not yet signed the shared agreement signed stateside byDCI Director Dan Satterlee. ICE offers three types of agreements under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. One, the Jail Enforcement Model, lets trained jailers ask those in their custody about their immigration status, and lets those jailers search ICE databases and issue immigration detention orders. Another trains local jail staff as ICE Warrant Service Officers, allowing them to serve immigration warrants obtained from a judge by ICE officers to inmates already in local custody. Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead and Hughes County Sheriff Patrick Callahan both made those types of agreements earlier this spring. The third type of agreement offers the broadest scope of authority to local officers. The Task Force Model trains locals who work outside detention centers to act as limited immigration agents, enabling them to ask those they encounter in the normal course of police business about their immigration status, and to arrest them if they're suspected of violating immigration law. The Obama administration discontinued the type in 2012 due to concerns about racial profiling and civil rights violations. They were revived by the Trump administration earlier this year. Jackley and Rhoden, both Republicans and potential 2026 gubernatorial candidates, have characterized their support for the agreements as moves showing them to be in lockstep with President Trump's immigration policies. While Jackley said in a press release that his agents would use their immigration enforcement authority in limited situations, Rhoden spokeswoman Josie Harms would not expand upon the scenarios under which state troopers would use their authority once an agreement is in place for the highway patrol. Taneeza Islam, CEO of South Dakota Voices for Peace, said the general message will make victims of labor and sex trafficking less likely to come forward, and lets perpetrators threaten to turn their victims in for deportation if they attempt to flee. 'You have legal protections if you come forward, but victims don't know that,' Islam said. ICE has authority and supervision over all immigration-related activities, according to Jackley's agreement. Authorities must undergo ICE-led training and pass federal exams. ICE covers training-related travel costs and provides instructors and materials. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Church fire; DOC deaths; Cold tonight and rain
SIOUX FALLS S.D. (KELO) — Here are this morning's top stories with KELOLAND On the Go. A Watertown church is trying to figure out what's next after a fire broke out Monday afternoon. The Watertown Fire Rescue assistant chief told KELOLAND News Tuesday, the cause wasn't confirmed yet, but there's a high probability lightning is to blame. Pastors describe support after Watertown church fire South Dakota's top law enforcement officer says it doesn't look like the state's latest Department of Corrections inmate deaths were from natural causes. Jackley: Recent DOC inmate deaths 'likely' overdoses Temperatures will warm the most in Rapid City, mainly due to more sunshine. Temperatures will once again bottom out into the 30s tonight with some clearing. Another cool day ahead; Shower chances coming this weekend Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Plankinton man gets 55 years for raping minor
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – A Plankinton man has been sentenced to 55 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of first degree rape involving a minor. Kody Konechne, 24, was sentenced Wednesday in Aurora County Circuit Court. The crimes occurred in Aurora County in 2020. Grand jury indicts man on sex crime charges 'Crimes against children cannot be tolerated,' said Attorney General Jackley in a news release. Konechne is also serving a five-year federal prison sentence for pleading guilty to one count of Attempted Enticement of a Minor Using the Internet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
South Dakota corrections work group formally backs need for new prison. But where?
SPRINGFIELD — South Dakota needs a new prison. How large it ought to be or where are open questions, but a work group appointed to 'reset' discussions on a new men's prison agreed on that much Tuesday during the second of its four planned meetings. State Attorney General Marty Jackley sat silent through more than four hours of testimony and public comment before asking his fellow members of 'Project Prison Reset' to support a replacement for the penitentiary, the 144-year-old quartzite monolith in Sioux Falls known as 'The Hill.' By then, group members had reviewed a dozen potential sites for a new prison, submitted by landowners through a request for information. They'd also sat through presentations on mental health and occupational programming at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, heard from city residents on the medium security facility's value to the Bon Homme County city of 1,900, and had reassured those residents that it would remain a part of the Department of Corrections' long-term facility plans regardless of what happens with the penitentiary. With The Hill, Jackley said, the path forward is clear. It's overcrowded, outdated and unsafe, he said, citing the case of a correctional officer killed by two inmates in 2011 as evidence of the dangers presented by the status quo. 'We can't do nothing,' Jackley said. 'We have to do something.' The unanimous vote in favor of Jackley's motion answers the first of three questions posed in the executive order from Gov. Larry Rhoden that created the group. At a special session in July, the group is meant to deliver recommendations on how large a prison is needed and where to put it, using the results of a consultant's report on the state's existing facilities as a guide. Rhoden backed a plan to build an $825 million, 1,500-bed men's facility on a controversial Lincoln County site during this year's legislative session. The governor has called the penitentiary 'gothic,' and said the site south of Sioux Falls that inspired an ongoing legal battle from neighbors was a 'gift from God,' but was unable to sway lawmakers skeptical about the size, site and price tag. Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen was appointed to lead Project Prison Reset after the legislative rebuffing. On Tuesday before the vote, Venhuizen said he agrees with Jackley on the need, but pointed out that the group's schedule envisioned a review of the consultant's report before answering any of the questions posed to it. But 'if you feel that we already know enough to answer the first question,' he said, 'I think that is also very defensible.' Just one work group member suggested otherwise. Dell Rapids Republican Speaker of the House Jon Hansen, who announced a 2026 run for governor last week, tried unsuccessfully to convince the group to hold off on supporting a replacement. Hansen and his announced running mate, Canton Republican Rep. Karla Lems, were vocal opponents of the 1,500-bed plan that failed during the legislative session. Hansen pointed to a presentation on Springfield's Governor's House program from earlier in the afternoon. Inmates who build those affordable housing units are less likely to return to prison, the group learned. Why not explore options for reducing repeat offenses through programming before committing to new facilities, he asked? 'From everything that I've studied, we're an outlier, and it's really high,' Hansen said. 'Before we go jumping into whether we need a new prison, I really think we should pause. Maybe it's part of that report – I would presume it is – what are other states doing?' But Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, said the needs are immediate. Even if the state were to keep The Hill, he said, 'we've got 365 more people than we're supposed to' in the building. 'Even if you disagree with a few of these members on the panel and say 'I still think The Hill's still viable,' etcetera, we've still got to find room for 365 more people,' Karr said. The penitentiary has some supporters. A former inmate who testified Tuesday said he spent time there and at the Federal Correctional Institution of Leavenworth in Kansas, a prison of similar vintage. 'The Hill is functional,' said Paul Cooper, who's employed as a cook in Sioux Falls. 'It's clean, productive. I completely disagree with the fact that it needs to be rebuilt.' Doug Weber, a former penitentiary warden who lobbied lawmakers to vote down the 1,500-bed proposal, told South Dakota Searchlight that The Hill is functional if maintained. Darin Young, the now-former warden who took the job upon Weber's retirement, called the building 'beautiful' in a recent interview with The Scouting Report podcast. Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead offered a different take on Tuesday. 'I don't need a consultant to tell me that place is a pit,' Milstead said. 'I would not want my son or daughter working there.' Hansen and Lems ultimately joined every other member of the task force in supporting Jackley's motion. Milstead spoke up in favor of consultation with neighbors during the earlier discussions on possible sites. The state got 12 pitches from landowners for possible sites through its request for information. Four were outside of Sioux Falls, in Huron, Grant County (northeast of Watertown), Aberdeen and Mitchell. Another eight were in the Sioux Falls area, including near the Lincoln County cities of Canton and Worthing and in the Sioux Falls development park that's home to the city's Amazon distribution center. The former Citibank campus just north of the current penitentiary was also offered up as an option, and multiple work group members toured that site recently. Ryan Brunner, a policy adviser for Rhoden, presented the proposals on a spreadsheet and noted that some arrived as recently as Monday evening. The goal, he said, is to fill in the spreadsheet with details on each site's cost, serviceability for utilities and other factors in the coming weeks. 'Is there some way you can put in there what the neighbors think?' Milstead said. 'Some of these are in places where homes are going in nearby.' Brunner said that will be a consideration for any site, as would issues like proximity to 100-year floodplains or interstates and workforce availability. The consultant hired to study the state's needs can fully study three sites once the group narrows its options. As far as public comments, Venhuizen said he doubts neighbors will be silent. Opposition from those who live near the initially proposed Lincoln County site – which is still on the table as an option for the work group – spoke up quickly. 'We put this list out yesterday,' Venhuizen said. 'I'm sure we'll know what the neighbors think in pretty short order.' The locations submitted to Project Prison Reset: Submission 1 – Huron Submission 2 – Aberdeen Submission 3 – Mitchell Submission 4 – Grant County Submission 5a – Citibank Campus Submission 5b – Citibank Campus Submission 5c – Citibank Campus Submission 6 – I-29 Ag and Industrial Park Submission 7 – Moen Parcel Submission 8 – Newman Land Submission 9 – Assam Companies Submission 10 – Kappenman Trust Submission 11 – Canton Parcel Submission 12 – Wayne Township This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota corrections work group formally backs need for new prison
