SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Members of the South Dakota Department of Corrections Commission said during Thursday’s meeting the commission needs to be more active.
As the state plans to build a new men’s prison in Lincoln County, commission member Mark Anderson said his biggest concern is how can the number of inmates be reduced.
“This commission needs to be involved in prisons,” Anderson said.
Although Anderson and commission member Mark McGirr said the commission has been more active in the past on prison issues, DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko said in her review of minutes and agendas since 2015, the commission started to be less active in 2018 and 2019.
“We studied the best practices of prisons around the nation,” McGirr said. McGirr said he’s been a long-time member of the commission. McGirr said he’d like to see a more active commission.
Republican Rep. Kevin Jensen, who is not a commission member, said in the past the commission did continuing studies.
“I don’t see any continuing study,” Jensen said of today’s commission. Jensen said when he was a member of the commission there was more discussion on prison-related topics.
Several comments from commission members on Thursday were linked to Wasko’s comments at a July 31 GOAC meeting.
New committee chairman Democrat Sen. Shawn Bordeaux said he was concerned that Wasko wanted to do away with the commission.
Wasko said she has never said she wanted to “do away” with the commission but instead, said it was time to look at the commission and its role.
During the July 31 GOAC meeting, Wasko said that lawmakers should take another look at role of the corrections commission.
Wasko started as DOC Secretary in 2022. Wasko said Thursday that she followed the past few years of corrections commission agendas and minutes which included mainly overviews and reports of Pheasantland Industries.
Bordeaux said that is a failed agenda system.
Bordeaux said the commission may need to meet more often. There are issues at the prisons, including overcrowding, the commission could help with.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Bordeaux said.
Jensen said he was willing to work with Bordeaux in the Legislature on possible changes for the corrections commission.
Those who want changes should start with state laws, Democrat Rep. Linda Duba said during the commission’s public input portion.
Duba said the state continues to pass laws that put more people in prison and for longer periods.
“We need to change the way we sentence individuals,” Duba said.
The discussion at GOAC stemmed from GOAC chairman Republican Rep. Tim Reed’s questions about incidents at state prisons. Reed asked if the corrections commission was an appropriate place for Wasko to share more information about incidents.
Wasko said then it would not be because the commission meetings are public. She said on Thursday she could talk with individual members of the commission but it was not appropriate for meeting discussion.
