SPRINGFIELD, S.D. (KELO) — A sunny day in southern South Dakota welcomed members of Project Prison Reset’s task force to Springfield, where the group sat down and made a decision Tuesday: unanimously voicing their approval to replace the current South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
“We really haven’t had an opportunity to talk about what we saw on the hill,” said Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, who serves on the task force. “And I know that’s coming after the consultant’s report, but I don’t need a consultant to tell me that the place is a pit. And it’s a horrible place to work. I would not let my son or daughter work in the state prison on the hill. I would not.”
The task force is also looking at the size and location of a new prison. Back in late February, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden listed those matters as the second and third questions Project Prison Reset had to answer after deciding if a new prison is even warranted.
“We are going to have a harder time with number two because of the financial aspect of it, and number three, the location of it, because of the politics,” said South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who is also on the task force.
With regard to location, the governor’s office has received several submissions, so far all in eastern South Dakota. At the moment, nine possible locations are in the Sioux Falls area, including the long-considered Lincoln County site between Harrisburg and Canton. Other possible spots are in the Huron, Aberdeen, Mitchell and Big Stone City communities.
None of the potential sites were picked or eliminated Tuesday; the questions of the size of a new men’s prison and where it could be located will wait for another day. The task force’s next meeting is scheduled for June 3 in Pierre, and after that, another meeting is set for July 8 in Sioux Falls.
Eventually, the plan is for a special session of the state legislature to learn about the group’s recommendations in late July. House Bill 1025 during South Dakota’s 2025 legislative session would have originally appropriated money to build a new men’s prison in Lincoln County, but the House gutted the bill before voting it down.
