DOC’s lack of transparency about new SD prison could have long-term consequences, expert says

For more than two years, South Dakotans have grappled with the fact that the South Dakota State Penitentiary, in use since the state was a territory, needs to be overhauled.

That overhaul includes shutting down the prison in Sioux Falls and shifting incarcerated men to a new location within 20 miles of the city, ensuring the Department of Corrections has access to the workforce.

And in early October as combining concluded, DOC officials announced a 300-acre field owned by the state in Lincoln County would be the future site of the prison, much to the chagrin of area landowners and elected officials.

State officials and lawmakers have had since February, when the Legislature passed the funding bill to purchase the land for the prison, to communicate with area officials and constituents that their backyard could be the prison's future site.

More: What we know about the new men's state prison to be built in Lincoln County

Lincoln County residents have revolted, filing a lawsuit in the county against the DOC and the state. DOC officials have shut down communication, including answering simple questions about the prison, citing the lawsuit is too broad in nature, so they can’t talk about pending litigation. And area lawmakers and county commissioners say while they had conversations with the department about potential locations, they weren’t notified about the final land selection until the week of.

That's the complete reverse of what happened in Rapid City, when one local lawmaker reached out to the former mayor early in the process of selecting the new site for the women's prison.

More: South Dakota landowners sue to put prison site in front of county zoning board

The lack of communication surrounding the men’s prison has led to a bad taste in the mouth for residents and their representatives. And that could hurt public and state officials in the long run by making residents more hesitant about state projects where they live, according to a government ethics expert.

How did we get here?

In June 2021, the state paid a Nebraska-based consulting firm $323,000 to conduct a study on the future needs of the South Dakota prison system.

The firm’s recommendation: shut down the men’s prison and build a $338 million state-of-the-art facility that would ease overcrowding at the prison, as well as the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, which would be safer for everyone.

More: Raze and relocate Sioux Falls prison, other South Dakota correctional facilities, report recommends

“Modifying the facility to meet contemporary standards would be near impossible,” the DLR Group report concluded.

The location DLR recommended was within 20 miles of Sioux Falls, including parts of Lincoln County.

Noem included the overhaul of the current incarceration system in her December 2021 budget addressing, asking lawmakers to set aside $600 million for the entire prison upgrade project, including the construction of the new men’s prison, the women’s prison in Rapid City and other needed upgrades across the prison system.

By the end of the 2022 Legislative session, lawmakers had earmarked $3.8 million for the Rapid City women’s prison and had appointed several lawmakers, including Sioux Falls Reps. Linda Duba, Greg Jamison and Chris Karr, to sit on a summer study about incarceration project costs.

The summer study recommended in its 2022 report to the legislative Executive Board that the state fund the costs for the new men’s prison.

More: Where could the new state prison go? Minnehaha County says it's not part of the conversation yet

By the time lawmakers reconvened in Pierre in January, prisons were top of mind.

DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko presented plans to the Appropriations Committee in February about what the 1,500-bed prison would entail, including a more modern spread out facility that would meet safety and programming needs. Pheasantland Industries would also be shifted to the new facility. She added land selection would begin in the spring.

The Jameson Prison Annex would remain operational, serving speciality populations such as disabled inmates, mentally ill inmates and elders in the prison. The pen itself would be decommissioned.

When Rep. Dennis Krull, R-Hill City, asked about zoning for the new prison in the February meeting, Wasko said she was unsure what the zoning requirements would be, after explaining the new prison would be within the vicinity of Sioux Falls but would be outside city limits.

“I have been involved in numerous prison projects, I have been the warden of four prisons and none of them were in town,” she said. “They were all outside city limits.”

More: Gov. Kristi Noem signs slate of bills regarding criminal justice, new state prisons

Lawmakers voted to approve the $52 million needed for the land purchase and design phase of the project. An additional $271 million of state funds were set aside for the construction of the facility.

Rumors abound in the summer, concrete plan made in the fall

DOC officials issued a request for information for the land it was looking for in May. It’s unclear at the time where the state was looking at around the Sioux Falls area.

Wasko explained in an October letter to the Lincoln County Commission there was little land for sale and when DOC officials reached out to private landowners about discussing a potential site, it was turned down.

But it wasn’t until late in the summer that Lincoln County Commissioner Jim Schmitt learned DOC officials were looking at a location in Lincoln County. Schmitt had known DOC officials were looking at a site near Highway 18 and Interstate 29, but that site didn’t materialize.

When he and Sen. Jim Bolin, R-Canton, sat down with DOC officials, it was an informal meeting, Schmitt said.

“DOC talked about the land that they did own in Lincoln County. We were told that this was confidential and that there were no decisions,” he said. “There was nothing and we were not to talk about it.”

More: Kellie Wasko pens letter explaining reasoning behind location of new prison in Lincoln County

Neither Bolin nor DOC officials answered questions from the Argus Leader about the what the communication process looked like.

Weeks later, Schmitt learned alongside the public that DOC had chosen the 300 acres in Lincoln County for the new prison site. Residents reached out to him to see if the commission could do anything.

“Counties don’t have any say in this matter,” he said. “This is a state-run matter and they will make that decision and pretty well do what they want to do.”

Rep. Kevin Jensen, R-Tea, said that Ryan Brunner, a senior policy director in the Governor’s Office, called him in June to ask about finding a property near the interstate for the prison. They talked about a possible site southwest of Harrisburg. By August, when Jensen and Brunner talked again, there was another location near Worthing.

But two days before DOC officials made the announcement in October that the Lincoln County location was going to be selected, Bruner gave Jensen a heads up that neither the Harrisburg or Worthing locations were going to work.

“It was a bit of a shock,” he said.

What happened in Rapid City

The lack of conversation between the state and local officials is a marked change from what happened with the new women’s prison in Rapid City.

Construction has already started on the 288-bed facility with a completion date of either late 2025 or early 2026.

Former mayor Steve Allender said Rep. Becky Drury, R-Rapid City, had reached out early in the selection process for the new site in Rapid City and asked if there were concerns about the location.

“My take on it has been that a good share of the prisoners from the women’s prison come from our area,” he said, explaining that overcrowding in the women’s prison in Pierre has probably led to some women missing out on rehabilitation programming.

Allender said he chose not to have public meetings about the new prison, adding there had been enough coverage about it during the legislative session and he felt even if the community opposed it, “I think it would’ve fallen on deaf ears.”

Drury said she wanted Allender in on the conversation about the women’s prison early because of his law enforcement experience.

“I had that reliance that he knew what was going on,” she said. “He was in favor of it. I just really relied on his expert opinion.”

What does this mean for transparency?

Larry Jacobs, a professor of politics at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, said officials who withhold information from the public about state projects sometimes assume they can announce the project and move on.

“But that’s not actually what history shows,” he said. “What we often see is really the opposite. It really can stir animosity, distrust and then a protracted legal battle. It sounds like they’ve really made their life more difficult.”

Without an open and honest conversation, residents are then left scrambling to find answers, which can lead to conspiracy theories and the spread of disinformation as they try “to make sense of something that seems unfair,” Jacobs said.

Jensen said he wished DOC officials had put out a public notice the department was looking at the location in Lincoln County, so an open conversation between the public and the state could have been held.

When DOC officials didn’t appear at a public forum organized by Neighbors Opposed to Prison Expansion, or NOPE, ealier this month because of the lawsuit filed by the group, there were moments of deep silence and frustration as people asked questions that could only be answered by the department.

More: 'It was a shame': Lincoln County residents question lawmakers at forum on new men's prison

For Cass Swanson, a Lincoln County resident in attendance, she said she wanted more transparency from DOC, including a list of what locations had been proposed.

“It speaks volumes that she’s not here,” Swanson said, referencing Secretary Wasko’s absence.

Ultimately in the future, Jacobs said it could be even more difficult for the state to pitch projects in Lincoln County.

“Distrust is a very potent, long-lasting curse on communities and if the government really poisoned the well of community trust, it’s very hard to win that back,” he said. “And that’s a real shame.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: New SD prison brings government trust issues to light, expert says