South Dakota Men’s Prison Project Resets With New Consultant
By Kat Balster
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota officials are returning to the drawing board on plans for a new men’s prison after lawmakers rejected a proposed $825 million facility in Lincoln County earlier this year, prompting the launch of Project Prison Reset. At the center of this new phase is a fresh review of the state’s correctional needs led by Phoenix-based Arrington Watkins Architects, which was hired under a $729,000 contract to conduct a new feasibility study.
Selected by the administration of Gov. Larry Rhoden, Arrington Watkins Architects will reexamine critical factors such as facility design, cost estimates and site selection. The move comes after nearly $51 million was already spent or obligated toward the now-paused Lincoln County project, which had drawn opposition from landowners and ultimately failed to gain enough legislative support to proceed.
“This isn’t going to be a cheap deal,” said Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, who chairs the Project Prison Reset task force, said at the group’s recent meeting. “We need to be realistic about the costs.”
The task force held its first meetings April 2 and 3 in Sioux Falls. Members toured the existing men’s prison and heard from Department of Corrections (DOC) officials, former inmates and the public. Key takeaways included the need for additional space and improved facilities to accommodate education and rehabilitation programs—resources that are currently in short supply.
“They don’t have the space or the staff,” said Sen. Mark Lapka, a member of the task force and the legislature’s Joint Committee on Appropriations, at the Prison Project Reset meeting. “We were shown a whole lot more on our tour than I’d seen last September.”
DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko presented updated information to lawmakers during the tour, emphasizing shortcomings in current prison infrastructure. Rep. Erin Healy, another task force member, said hearing from former inmates underscored the gap between programming availability and need.
“The state pen is not the best place for offenders or the people who work there,” Healy said at the Prison Project Reset meeting. “We need to look at other options.”
The rejection of House Bill 1025 in February effectively halted plans to construct the prison on a 320-acre state-owned site near Lennox. Critics of the plan, including some Lincoln County residents, voiced concerns over the location, financial transparency and infrastructure costs. A pending lawsuit over the site adds further uncertainty.
Gov. Rhoden launched Project Prison Reset via Executive Order 2025-01 to provide a structured forum for stakeholder input and data-driven decisionmaking. The task force, which includes lawmakers, law enforcement officials and corrections experts, is expected to deliver recommendations by July 22.
Officials are now actively searching for a new location for the prison. A request for information was issued to landowners, asking for at least 100 acres within 20 miles of Sioux Falls. While no land will be purchased until after the special session, the state has asked for submissions by April 24.
“If folks are interested in selling their land for a prison site, we’d like to hear from them,” said Ryan Brunner, Rhoden’s adviser on prison issues, during the recent Prison Project Reset meeting.
The state still holds approximately $650 million in its incarceration construction fund, most of which remains unspent. Officials maintain that while past investments may not be recoverable, they are not necessarily lost.
“The state could claw back some of the $50 million,” Venhuizen said at the Prison Project Reset meeting, acknowledging the financial risks of changing course. “But we’re doing what we can to reduce that.”
Among the expenses already incurred were costs for land acquisition, architectural design, and infrastructure upgrades, including water and sewer lines near the proposed Lennox site. These projects, some funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, could still prove useful if a new site is chosen within 10 miles of the original location.
According to DOC Finance Director Brittni Skipper, delays could inflate the prison’s cost by $34 million per year due to inflation. The original report from 2021 estimated a 1,300-bed facility at $338 million. That estimate rose sharply in the years that followed, with revised projections nearing $825 million by late 2024.
The guaranteed maximum price for the Lincoln County facility expired in March, and no new design or site has been confirmed.
“There is definitely consensus that something needs to be done,” Healy said during the Prison Project Reset meeting. “We all don’t know what that is yet.”
With South Dakota’s prison population continuing to strain outdated facilities—some operating at 176% capacity—state leaders are under mounting pressure to find a long-term solution. The next meeting of the Project Prison Reset task force is scheduled for April 29 in Springfield, where further discussions about potential locations and updated cost models are expected to take place.
“This is a long-term investment in public safety and rehabilitation,” Venhuizen said. “The decisions we make now will shape our corrections system for decades.”
Read more of Correctional News’ coverage of Project Prison Reset.