Opponents of a new men’s prison in development are again voicing their concerns over the project’s cost and location.
But the Department of Corrections officials say it’s needed due to overcrowding.
The new men’s state penitentiary in South Dakota is being met with contention by a local collation of members of the Neighbors Against Prison Expansion, or NOPE.
The state Department of Corrections is planning on building a level-five men’s prison in Lincoln County. NOPE is suing the state for what they said was a lack of communication on the site.
Kyah Broders is a member of NOPE. She presented the coalition’s stance at this week's interim legislative appropriations committee.
“Where do we draw the line? $569 million of South Dakota’s tax dollars are already appropriated and the price tag is, as we have all discussed today, expected to grow - to support the highest population of incarcerated individuals per capita in the U.S. Our governor recently boldly stated that there is $80 million dollars in surplus that will be placed in the incarceration construction fund without the approval of this committee," said Broders. "Meanwhile, daycares continue to close, teaching positions remain vacant, and our state continues to fall short in providing mental health and rehabilitative services for all walks of life.”
With the increased size of the prison project, some appropriators are concerned with the ever-growing cost. While some money was saved by the department purchasing the land from another state entity, the building and operating costs continue to grow.
Kellie Wasko is the Secretary of Corrections for the South Dakota DOC. She said existing state prisons are overcrowded.
“Durfee should not be housing 1,200 inmates. Yankton should not be housing almost 300. When we look at what we have had to do to accommodate what we are now housing, and if you go back to my very first session in 2023, I told you then, and I am going to say it again now. Our prisons are not safe. They’re not safe. They are not constructed with modern day environments. They are not constructed with modern day equipment, and they’re not staffed according to the National Institute of Corrections Staffing methodology,” said Wasko.
Appropriators voiced concern to Wasko on the lack of exact dollar amounts presented to the committee. Most agreed, however, a new prison needs to be built.
