South Dakota is on track to spend $2 billion on prisons in the next decade
June 7, 2025
South Dakota is on a path to invest $2 billion into its corrections facilities in the next decade as a result of its stringent crime laws. The inmate population is projected to soar 30% in the next 10 years because of recent laws that keep people behind bars for longer. Now the state is expected to make decisions about where these prisons will go and how much to spend. Lawmakers have yet to reconsider the laws driving the inmate population surge or suggest prison alternatives. Without those, experts say the state is sure to run out of prison space soon.
