Consultant Names Benson Road Site as Best Location for South Dakota Prison
Photo: The Benson Road site is located within the preferred 30-mile radius of Sioux Falls and offers the availability of critical utilities, including water, sewer, storm and power. | Photo Credit: South Dakota Department of Corrections
By Lindsey Coulter
PIERRE, S.D. – Earlier this week, South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden announced that Arrington Watkins Architects, the state’s independent third-party consultant, ranked the Benson Road site as the best prison location among the multiple options under consideration.
The firm cited several reasons for the to the Benson Road site’s favorable rating. The site is located within the preferred 30-mile radius of Sioux Falls and offers the availability of critical utilities, including water, sewer, storm and power. The site also features multiple points of entry and minimal additional costs would be needed to extend utilities
“If you followed the prison task force, you know that our consultant did an analysis of the Lincoln County site and five alternative sites, based on several criteria, and scored the Lincoln County site the highest,” said Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen in a statement. “The Benson Road site, though, had not been offered at that time and was not scored. The prison task force’s consultant has analyzed this new site and now considers the Benson Road site to be the best site available.”
Gov. Rhoden previously announced that South Dakota has entered into a purchase agreement that grants the state the option to purchase land at the Benson Road site. This agreement represents a more than $10 million savings on what was estimated by the prison task force.
“South Dakota needs a new prison to keep our people safe, and we are moving forward with delivering a proposal that prioritizes safety and conservative fiscal stewardship,” said Gov. Rhoden in a statement. “We appreciate the Legislature’s continued attention to this project, and we are excited to deliver this as efficiently as possible for South Dakota taxpayers.”
The site rating comes weeks after South Dakota’s Prison Project Reset task force members voted on July 8 to support the development of a new men’s prison near Sioux Falls at a maximum price of $650 million, an increase of $50 million from a cap previously established in June but also $75 million lower than project consultants estimate the facility will actually cost (not accounting for potential cost overruns or supplemental funding requests.)
The ultimate decision on location will be determined by state lawmakers as the state braces for a projected 34% increase in its male prison population by 2036, and a major corrections overhaul could cost more than $2 billion over the next decade. The South Dakota prison population is expected to grow by 2.7% annually from 2025 to 2036. This is due partially to normal demographic trends, but also due to Senate Bill 146, which was passed in 2023 and eliminates parole for violent offenders. By 2036, the male inmate population is projected to reach 4,485, an increase of more than 1,100 from today’s levels.
Follow Correctional News for updates as the project progresses.