Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight – Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko said the state will not change the location of a future men’s prison south of Sioux Falls, despite pending litigation and local opposition.
“I know that we’ve talked about this and I have to be very careful because we are still in litigation, but we’re not looking at other land,” Wasko said Tuesday during a legislative budget hearing.
The site is a piece of state-owned property in rural Lincoln County, 15 miles south of Sioux Falls. Opponents, including people who own nearby homes, are frustrated that Wasko is avoiding them while discussing plans with lawmakers.
“How is she able to speak on that, but not speak to the people directly impacted by that?” said Maddie Voegeli with Neighbors Opposed to Prison Expansion (NOPE).
During a Jan. 22 hearing on NOPE’s lawsuit against the state, the group’s attorney argued the state’s unilateral siting decision undermines local planning and zoning laws and economic development plans. A lawyer representing the state Department of Corrections countered that the notion of the state needing county permission to build a penitentiary is “absurd.” The lawsuit awaits a judge’s decision.
Voegeli said opponents tried to talk with the state and governor before filing their lawsuit. She said a lack of communication is “what propelled the lawsuit” in the first place.
Kyah Broders, president of NOPE, concurred.
“We reached out as soon as this became public knowledge,” she said. “There’s been no transparency in this. If there was, there wouldn’t have been this much resistance.”
Broders said the only person given any advance notice was the farmer leasing the land from the state for the last four decades. Sam Eiesland is that farmer’s son. He had planned to farm the land after his dad.
Eiesland said the notice from the state essentially told them, “We’re going to build here.” From there, he said communication has been nonexistent with Wasko and Gov. Kristi Noem.
“We have heard nothing from either of the two,” Eiesland said, adding, “If we could have sat down, as their constituents, looked at some other options, we maybe could have found another place.”
Wasko told lawmakers Tuesday that other locations were considered for the 1,500-bed men’s prison, which will largely replace the 143-year-old penitentiary in Sioux Falls. Legislators have set aside $567 million for the project, but the final price estimate is not yet known.
“We did have several failed attempts at land that was brought to our attention, or we sought out,” she said.
“Our design team had effectively told us that we were coming to a point in our timeline that if we didn’t have land that could start a design and development, we were going to go into a potential six- to nine-month lag because of their timelines,” she continued.
Rep. Chris Karr, R-Sioux Falls, asked if expanding the existing penitentiary site in Sioux Falls is possible. But from building up a few more levels to expanding the site itself, “the answer to that is no,” Wasko said.