SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — While House Bill 1025 now goes to the House Committee on Appropriations in Pierre, the House State Affairs committee gave no recommendation Wednesday on the legislation itself.
Officials consider $70K fence to improve safety, site
HB 1025 would put $763 million toward building a new men’s prison in Lincoln County for which $62 million are already appropriated. The House State Affairs committee heard Wednesday from Nick Rodriguez with the South Dakota Department of Corrections about the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls, which the new facility would replace.
“We’re entrusted with the safety of our staff,” Rodriguez said. “We’re entrusted with the safety of our offenders. The infrastructure, the site that we have at the moment, does not make that feasible. To sit here and talk about reworking facilities and structures that are outdated and have no compatible use for the way corrections has to evolve and the way we have to evolve as staff to make this work is absurd.”
Kyah Broders, president of the group NOPE which stands for “neighbors opposing prison expansion,” also focused on people’s wellbeing when testifying before lawmakers. She, however, spoke in opposition to the legislation and its price tag.
“Knowing that there are millions of dollars on the line with this bill, are those millions of dollars better spent, as previously mentioned, on things like education, mental health and substance abuse in our communities to better South Dakota now and better South Dakota for the future so that we can actually lower our recidivism rates and lower the amount of people that we can actually have in our prisons,” Broders said.
Legislators on the House State Affairs committee were nearly unanimous in their decision Wednesday, voting 12 to 1 to send HB 1025 to the House Committee on Appropriations with no recommendation on it. But testimony showcased lawmakers’ varying stances on the legislation.
“I think this site is a good location, and I think the state has done due diligence on making that selection,” Republican Rep. Tim Reisch of the Howard area said.
“I think it is incredibly important that we figure out a plan, and while I don’t agree with the funding mechanisms, I do know that this is necessary,” Democratic Rep. Erin Healy of Sioux Falls said.
“My first inclination is ‘no way,’ but I will be supporting the motion to send this on with no recommendation for further discussion,” Republican Rep. Karla Lems of the Canton area said.
Per Ryan Brunner, senior policy advisor and director of legislative relations in South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden’s office, if the current proposed legislation gets the governor’s signature, the prison in Lincoln County would be set for a tentative opening in 2029.
