DCI is not investigating DOC secretary after state prison staff calls for her removal

The South Dakota State Penitentiary staff’s letter to Gov. Kristi Noem urging for Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko’s removal, sent on Jan. 4, has yet to receive any formal response by the governor’s office.

The letter, obtained by the Argus Leader in a public records request, addressed certain collective concerns staff shared regarding numerous policy changes in the prison and their serious consequences since Wasko was named to the position.

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After the letter was sent, numerous efforts were made to reach out to Ian Fury, the Governor’s Chief of Communications, DOC spokesman Michael Winder and Wasko herself for a response. But attempts were met with silence.

The South Dakota Department of Criminal Investigations reported that no investigations in relation to the letter have been conducted as of Friday. Tony Mangan, a spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office, which oversees DCI, said the department had not heard of or received a copy of the letter calling for Wasko's removal. Thus, DCI was not officially privy to the situation.

Wasko was named to the role in March 2022, with a background of 22 years of experience in adult and juvenile corrections. Prior to the South Dakota DOC, she served as the CEO/president of Correctional Health Partners in Denver, Colorado, from 2019 to 2022. Before that, she served as the Deputy Executive Director for the Colorado DOC for six years.

Wasko's leadership as secretary came after the prison and department’s own upheaval, when former secretary Mike Leidholt retired from his position, following allegations of sexual harassment and nepotism occurring within the South Dakota State Penitentiary.

The letter, about the length of one page, discussed the “safety, efficiency and morale” within the correctional facility because of the impact of recent policies.

The objective of the prison staff in sending the letter to the governor was to address how Wasko’s leadership had not yielded any improvements and how a change is necessary. The goal is to create an “environment that places paramount importance on safety, discipline and the well-being of both staff and inmates.”

“A change in leadership, one that is more supportive of the well-being and concerns of correctional officers, is imperative," the letter states.

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One of the issues brought to the governor’s attention was the “unintended consequences” of “out of cell time,” which increased the distribution of contraband and synthetic marijuana and in one instance, led to the serious injury of a corrections corporal, the letter stated.

The letter also divulged how Wasko’s term led to modifications in the “write-up system” making it “less punitive” and creating a “backlog of unresolved disciplinary actions.” Additionally, the new hierarchical decision-making process resulted in delayed responses to emergencies, where both inmates and staff are being put to risk in situations of violent inmate behavior or immediate medical attention requirements.

“We are instructed to not take appropriate actions or send non-compliant inmates to restrictive housing to ‘diffuse the situation,’” the letter stated. “Consequently, inmates are increasingly resistant to officers’ directives, showing little respect for officers, and often face no consequences for their actions.”

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Situations which now call for “restrictive housing” are also not as effective due to the “brief duration of confinement” of only a day or two, the letter states. The letter also outlines how the “short duration does little to deter disruptive and violent behavior or contribute to maintaining order and peace within the institution.”

The letter also stated instances of sexual harassment toward the female staff members. The overall consequence is a lack of respect toward the staff and the officers’ authority being undermined, since such behavior isn’t met with adequate consequences, the letter states.

“In the face of these challenges, the prevailing sentiment among correctional staff is one of demoralization,” said staff in the letter. “The perceived lack of backing from the administration has been further exacerbated by the implementation of increasingly relaxed policies that hinder officers in efficiently carrying out their duties.”

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The entire letter sent by the prison staff to the governor is below:

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota not investigating claims against DOC Secretary Wasko