In July, the Project Prison Reset Task Force voted 20-0 to direct the Office of the State Engineer and Department of Corrections to propose a plan to build a 1,500-bed facility in the Sioux Falls area, with 1,200 beds being multi-level cells and 300 beds being dorm style, with a construction quality to last 100 years, and a total project cost not to exceed $650 million.
In September the South Dakota Legislature approved the Task Force’s proposed plan. This prison plan has received the unanimous endorsement of our state’s Police Chiefs’ and Sheriff’s Associations, State’s Attorney Association, County Commissioners Association, and our attorney general.
Despite this approval, a handful of shrill critics are spreading false claims that the new men’s prison is a money-making human trafficking scheme to import out-of-state prisoners for money and that it is a “maximum security prison with 2,100 beds for 39 people.” No evidence is offered to support these inflammatory claims, and there is none. It is time for the truth to prevail.
South Dakota does not sell beds to house another state’s inmates. South Dakota participates in an interstate compact that allows states to trade inmates. Every state belongs. There is no profit motive for states to import or export inmates. Inmate transfers are done to promote staff safety, inmate security, witness protection, and to split up gang members. Inmates are returned to their home state before release.
A provision in the new men’s prison...
If legal proceedings arise between an employee and employer, there may be a strong temptation to present the facts in a more favorable light than they actually are. If an employee makes false clai...