South Dakota State Penitentiary loses fourth warden in five years amid senior staff shake-up

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has lost its fourth penitentiary warden since 2021 amid staffing changes that also include the departure of two other high-ranking officials.

Joseph Roemmich, who came to South Dakota from New Mexico just over a year ago to oversee the employees and inmates at the oldest parts of the penitentiary in Sioux Falls, is no longer employed by the state, according to department spokesman Michael Winder. He also confirmed the departures of Director of Prison Operations Amber Pirraglia and Maj. Cody Hanson.

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Pirraglia was Roemmich’s superior. In addition to Sioux Falls, Pirraglia oversaw prisons in Springfield, Yankton, Pierre and Rapid City. She had previously worked in corrections in Colorado, and came to South Dakota shortly after the hiring of another Colorado transplant, former Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko.

Wasko hired Roemmich last year, a few months before she resigned. Gov. Larry Rhoden hired Secretary Nick Lamb, who’d worked most recently in Iowa, to succeed Wasko. 

Hanson, who worked for the prison system prior to Wasko’s arrival, was an administrative major at the prison who’d testified to lawmakers as an advocate for a new men’s prison. He’d also helped lead media tours of the penitentiary.

Tabatha Benting, warden of the maximum security Jameson Annex, located on the state penitentiary campus, is now serving as penitentiary warden.

Winder did not offer departure dates or other details on the circumstances surrounding the exit of the three employees. 

A statement from Lamb on Wednesday said staffing changes are part of a broader effort to improve operations across the prison system, though he did not mention any staff members by name. The statement noted the expansion of community service work by inmates, the adoption of a prison seminary program and additional training programs, the expansion of educational partnerships with Southeast Technical College and Western Dakota Technical College, and a tightening of parole supervision.

“I have been evaluating the agency operations, and we are making some personnel changes consistent with the agency’s mission and the steps we’re taking,” Lamb wrote.

Rhoden, in a separate statement, said he’s “proud of the work” Lamb’s done in his first nine months on the job and called him “a strong leader” who “clearly shares my mission to keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.”

History of shake-ups amid debate over new construction

The state split warden duties in Sioux Falls into two positions last year. Prior to Roemmich’s arrival, the entire state penitentiary campus — which includes the 1881 penitentiary complex, the Jameson Annex and a separate work release center — was supervised by a single warden.

Roemmich’s predecessor, Teresa Bittinger, served less than two years and oversaw a period of controversy and unrest, which included lockdowns and a temporary shutdown of tablet-based inmate communications. She was appointed in 2023 to replace Dan Sullivan, who also served fewer than two years. He replaced Darin Young, ousted in a staff shake-up initiated by then-Gov. Kristi Noem in 2021.

State lawmakers voted last fall to replace the oldest parts of the penitentiary, which was built prior to South Dakota statehood, with a $650 million facility now under construction on the eastern side of Sioux Falls. The other two prison buildings on the penitentiary campus, located on a hill overlooking Falls Park less than a mile from downtown Sioux Falls, will continue to house inmates when the new prison complex opens in 2029.

Commission member: Loss of institutional knowledge is concerning

Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, is chair of the state’s Corrections Commission. The group is meant to offer guidance on corrections policy, and to approve any spending decisions on prison industries.

The loss of so many leaders is a concern for Wittman. Beyond the wardens, other long-term employees — including Doug Clark, the former deputy corrections secretary who served as interim warden after Young’s departure — have left the prison system over the past five years.

“There’s no real institutional knowledge left,” Wittman said. 

Wittman would like to see the commission move toward monthly meetings and address questions about leadership and institutional knowledge, as well as employee retention more broadly, but said it had been difficult to get traction during Wasko’s term.

The former secretary had sought to limit the commission’s scope of discussion and access to information, and some of the commission’s work has been taken on by the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. 

The latter group was formed following the Legislature’s prison funding vote, with a promise from Gov. Rhoden to address the state’s high reoffense rate. 

Lamb has appeared at both of the Corrections Commission meetings held since Wasko’s departure, introducing himself in the first and offering rundowns of the task force’s discussion points during the second.

Wittman said she expects the next Corrections Commission meeting to take place within the next few months. The next meeting of the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force is scheduled for Aug. 19.