SD House panel lukewarm on bill to finalize new men’s prison funding

PIERRE — A panel of lawmakers dealt a symbolic blow to the push for a new men’s prison Wednesday morning, signaling a possible rough road for what’s expected to be the most expensive taxpayer-funded building project in South Dakota history.

The House State Affairs Committee didn’t say no after a hearing at the state Capitol, but it didn’t say yes, either.

Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office and the state Department of Corrections (DOC) wanted the committee to send a bill that would permit them to spend $763 million on the prison to the state House’s budget-setting panel with a “do pass” recommendation. Last year, lawmakers gave the DOC authority to spend $62 million to prepare the site.

The guaranteed maximum price for the facility is $825 million. Lawmakers dumped most of the money for the prison into an interest-bearing fund last year, before the DOC’s November announcement of the final price tag.

Instead of blessing House Bill 1025 – the bill to top off the prison fund and unlock it for use – committee members voted 12-1 to send it to the House Appropriations Committee with no recommendation at all.

Men’s prison price comes in at $825 million, sparking questions from lawmakers, public

Several members said they want that budget panel to dig into cost to run the facility, and to build out the roadways necessary to transform the corn field selected as its site into a complex for 1,500 inmates and hundreds of staff.

Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko said the prison would help the state manage its correctional needs for 100 years. 

Rep. Karla Lems, R-Canton, said that language underscores the importance of caution.

“For a hundred-year project, we had really better know what we’re doing before we rubber-stamp this,” Lems said.

Her constituency includes a host of the project’s detractors. The selected site is about 14 miles south of Sioux Falls, between Harrisburg and Canton. Many of its Lincoln County neighbors banded together in a lawsuit, hoping to force the state to request a zoning permit from county officials before building on the 360 acres of farm ground.

The state was the victor in that case at the circuit court level; the opponents are appealing to the state Supreme Court.

Opposition: Price tag incomplete

The opposition testimony from those neighbors pointed out that the $825 million “guaranteed maximum price” does not include change orders, post-construction operational costs, or the cost to pave the gravel roads surrounding the property. 

That’s true, according to Wasko and Ryan Brunner, a senior adviser with Gov. Rhoden’s office. But they also said estimates for those numbers are either done or in the works. 

The state has a contingency fund of $24 million for change orders. Change orders that add work could conceivably come, Wasko conceded, but the hope with what she described as a well-conceived site plan is that “we get it right the first time.”

The annual cost to run the 1,500-bed facility would be $21.6 million more each year than it takes to fund the 144-year-old, 800-bed state penitentiary right now, she said. The new prison would replace the Sioux Falls penitentiary, and the fate of that older facility has not been determined.

Brunner pointed to an ongoing study by the state Department of Transportation that aims to evaluate traffic flows and options for road construction. The state has yet to produce a cost estimate for the three options outlined on its traffic study website.

Bill to change name of Department of Corrections advances

He said the department expects to put money aside for the work in 2027, and that it would involve “state and federal highway funds.”

He also urged the committee to think about another number: $40 million. That, he said, is the upper limit of the higher price the state would pay by way of inflation if it waits another year to move forward.

Project opponents suggested alternatives: Using the DOC’s 68-acre West Farm site near Sioux Falls, expanding its existing Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls or purchasing the shuttered former Citibank building just north of the penitentiary to meet the need for prison beds.

There are bills circulating in Pierre meant to stop the DOC from spending any more money on the men’s prison, and to force a reevaluation of the project site. Wasko addressed some of the ideas for alternative sites, including a reminder that there are juvenile detainees at the West Farm facility the DOC doesn’t have another place for at the moment.

There were 28 juveniles at West Farm as of Wednesday, DOC spokesman Michael Winder told South Dakota Searchlight after the hearing. The farm has a 68-bed capacity across two separate programs, known as Falls Academy and Brighter Transition.

Brunner urged lawmakers to think about another figure, specifically a dollar amount, when considering alternatives.

The state’s already spent money on the site in Lincoln County. 

“You start moving those around and redesigning, then you’re no longer utilizing the $62 million we’re already spending on the current site,” Brunner said. 

Lawmakers: Let appropriators learn more

Three prison staff members described the current penitentiary as outdated and dangerous. One spoke of the “deafening” sound drummed up when hundreds of inmates are released for meals because of the building’s multi-tiered, linear layout.

On the higher tiers, if somebody has to make a call for help from the lower tiers, “how’s anybody going to hear you down there?” said Nick Rodriguez, a 10-year correctional officer.

“Yes, we have radios, but there are times we’ve had communications issues with those,” he said.

Shortly after the House State Affairs vote, Gov. Rhoden’s office sent a press release pointing out that the state’s law enforcement organizations support the prison project. The statement also addressed security.

“The construction of a new prison is one way that we can improve public safety,” the governor wrote. “The condition of our current facility is unacceptable.” 

The new prison would have cell blocks arranged in a circular fashion to allow for easier monitoring of offenders and more orderly movement from one place to the other.

“Clearly we need a new prison,” said Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Greg Jamison, who tried unsuccessfully to convince the committee to recommend passage of HB 1025. “The location and the money are the issue. But it’s been well thought out, and it’s been well planned.”

But Rep. Marty Overweg, R-New Holland, said it makes more sense to let House appropriators dig into the figures. There’s been plenty of talk about the need for a prison in recent years, he said, but “what we haven’t talked a lot about is how we’re going to pay to run it,” Overweg said.

His move to send it along to the budget panel with a neutral vote was opposed only by Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham.