Special legislative session scheduled for South Dakota prison vote

Cells at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. (Courtesy of South Dakota Department of Corrections)

South Dakota lawmakers will gather in September to decide whether to replace the state penitentiary. 

On Friday, Gov. Larry Rhoden issued an executive proclamation calling a special session of the Legislature for Sept. 23.

The news comes a little over a week after the governor’s Project Prison Reset task force voted to endorse a 1,500-bed complex on undeveloped land in northeastern Sioux Falls. 

Prison task force picks Sioux Falls, caps price at $650 million for 1,500 beds

The group recommended a price cap of $650 million, which is roughly the amount that has been set aside for prison construction over the past three years, potentially allowing the state to pay cash for the project rather than taking on debt. 

The cap is around $75 million less than consultants and work managers said would be necessary for a project of that size during the task force’s final meeting on July 8, but the group decided that a higher price wouldn’t earn legislative support. 

Spending bills require the support of two-thirds of lawmakers. The final spending push for an $825 million prison on a controversial Lincoln County site failed to clear that hurdle in February.

In a letter to Rhoden requesting the special session, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, who leads the prison task force, said compromises were necessary to find an answer that would appeal to the Legislature and ease overcrowding in the state’s Department of Corrections facilities.

“The task force’s unanimous vote for its recommendation demonstrates that we have found a good site for a new penitentiary and a strong path forward,” Venhuizen wrote.

The new prison, if approved by lawmakers, would replace the oldest parts of the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. That building was initially constructed in 1881, prior to statehood.