State prison system puts nearly 1,300 inmates on indefinite lockdown

The South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) says it will not respond to questions on why it locked down two of its three facilities on the grounds of the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.

A DOC news release on the lockdown at the penitentiary and the maximum security Jameson Annex was sent after 11 p.m. Sunday. The agency doesn’t know how long the lockdown will be in effect, the release says, and all visits have been canceled aside from attorney meetings and previously scheduled and approved special visits.

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Communications between inmates and their families and friends outside the facilities could also be affected.

“We will be managing phone service for offenders for the duration of the lockdown. This may include periods of phone service being disabled temporarily,” the release said.

The release goes on to say that the agency “will not be responding to further questions and inquiries during the lockdown.”

“If the release of additional information is warranted, the information will be provided on the agency website and social media channels,” it says.

The penitentiary and Jameson Annex housed 1,262 inmates as of Aug. 31, according to the DOC website. The Sioux Falls Minimum Center, a facility for low security and work release inmates, was not mentioned in the news release on the lockdown. That facility housed 238 people at the end of August. 

It’s unclear how many times the penitentiary has been under lockdown so far in 2024. 

There were lockdowns following two incidents of unrest in March, which ultimately resulted in indictments for several inmates and two people outside prison facilities who are accused of collaborating with inmates on illegal activity.

The March incidents followed a decision by the DOC to temporarily shut down tablet-based communications for an “ongoing investigation” that the agency has yet to explain to the public. Tablet-based phone calls returned – with 20-minute time limits and a five call daily limit – but inmates are still unable to use the tablets’ text messaging capabilities.

Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield also saw unrest in July, with inmates injured in two separate flare-ups of inmate-on-inmate violence the DOC said injured six people.

Beyond saying the situation was under control and releasing the number of injured inmates, the DOC has not offered further details on that incident, offering only that accusations of higher injury figures and other assertions from inmates in Springfield were “inaccurate.” 

“Information that is security-sensitive and/or part of an ongoing investigation will not be released,” DOC spokesman Michael Winder wrote to South Dakota Searchlight on July 29.

DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko told the state’s Government Operations and Audit Committee over the summer that she’d be willing to explain the “nitty gritty” of the incidents with lawmakers behind closed doors, but that she won’t talk about them during public meetings for security reasons.