SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — The state has $62 million in expenses for the planned new men’s prison in Lincoln County under contract, according to information that will be presented at Tuesday’s legislative interim Joint Committee on Appropriations meeting.
The state’s Department of Corrections is scheduled to provide an update on the planned prison. Documents included with Tuesday’s agenda cite contracts for water with South Lincoln Rural Water System, for electric with Southeastern Electric Cooperative and East River Electric Power Cooperative and with MidAmerican Energy for Natural Gas.
The planned prison would be near 477th Avenue and 278th Street in Lincoln County between Harrisburg and Canton.
Landowners in the county, organized as the group Neighbors Opposing Prison Expansion (NOPE), have filed a lawsuit against the state and DOC on the prison site, citing the state should be subject to county planning and zoning. The lawsuit is in the court process.
Although the lawsuit is still in court, the state and DOC are planning for the chosen site.
Documents for Tuesday’s meeting citing the DOC’s authority to spend $39 million on a design for the prison, $8 million for the land, $10 million for infrastructure and $5 million for commissioning services for a total of $62 million dedicated to contracts.
The money spent to date was listed at about $15.5 million.
So far, a total of $569 million has been dedicated to the planned 1,500-bed Level V prison. The final estimated cost and construction design are expected to be completed in November.
Another expected update from the DOC involves staff.
DOC documents said the system has the lowest number of vacancies in three years for corrections officers and other uniformed staff. There were 156 vacancies in December of 2022, the highest listed by the DOC. As of June, there were 78 vacancies.
The state began increasing pay for DOC officers in August of 2022. Starting pay increased to $23.50 an hour. Pay for existing officers increased to $28 an hour.
