A near capacity crowd filled the Muth Technology Center amphitheater for a public forum regarding a proposed State Men’s Prison on county land south of Mitchell.
Audience members submitted written questions through a moderator which were answered by panel members from state, local and city governments as well as the economic development and medical communities.
Davison County Emergency Management and Planning and Zoning Director Jeff Bathke, who at one time worked in the prison system, addressed some of the questions.
He told the audience inmates generally do not parole into the local community. “Inmates normally return to their community or to a halfway house,” Bathke said. “We have a halfway house in Mitchell, so yes, inmates come here. We have a federal contract as well so inmates will not be here from Mitchell. It’s a halfway house so before they return to their home community.”
Plus, inmate’s families generally do not move to the community where the prison is located. Bathke also pointed out there hasn’t been a prison escape in more than 30 years.
His presentation is available on-line at davsioncounty.org under the Planning and Zoning tab.
Mitchell City councilor Tim Goldammer found the forum informative. “I was really impressed by the questions,” said Goldammer. “There were definitely things I hadn’t even thought of that were able to be answered and I thought did a really good job of answering it.”
A community leader with forty years of experience with a state prison in his town shared his thoughts.
Scott Kostal is the Mayor of Springfield. He says the prison is literally across the street. “Some of these things about escapes and all these kind of things just aren’t true,” said Kostal. “Certainly aren’t true in Springfield and aren’t true in the system.”
Kostal says dealing with the state of South Dakota, the department of corrections and making sure it’s built right are key. “Those are the important things and if you take care of them, take care of the workers, it will be a very good neighbor,” Kostal said.
He says the Springfield prison hasn’t hurt local property values.
The final decision on the project is in the legislature’s hands and requires a two-thirds majority approval to move ahead.