South Dakota Opens New Women’s Prison in Rapid City

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, along with Department of Corrections Secretary Nick Lamb and Warden Eric Aldridge, cut a piece of razor wire to mark the completion of a new $87 million women’s prison in Rapid City on July 10. | Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Office of Gov. Larry Rhoden

• South Dakota officials held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new 102,750-square-foot women’s correctional facility in Rapid City on July 10.
• The Level III-security facility is designed to house up to 300 women and includes three 96-bed housing units plus a 12-bed mother-infant program building.
• The design team includes Architecture Incorporated, CGL and HDR; Scull Construction and Flintco served as construction managers at-risk.
• State officials said transfers from existing women’s facilities in Pierre are expected to begin next month after staff training is completed.

RAPID CITY, S.D. — On July 10, South Dakota officials marked the completion of the state’s new women’s correctional facility in Rapid City, a project intended to expand treatment, programming and reentry capacity for women in custody while consolidating operations now based in Pierre.

Gov. Larry Rhoden commemorated the milestone with a “ribbon-cutting” ceremony — cutting a piece of razor wire instead of the traditional ribbon — as the Department of Corrections prepares to begin moving women from the South Dakota Women’s Prison and Pierre Minimum Center next month, once staff training is complete.

The new 102,750-square-foot, Level III-security facility includes three 96-bed housing units and a separate 12-bed mother-infant program building. Programming space is central to the $87 million project, with one housing unit dedicated to 96 drug-treatment beds organized as a therapeutic community, and each housing unit also including space for group treatment and other programming activities.

“Ninety-seven percent of female offenders enter prison with a substance use disorder assessment, and this new facility will strengthen our ability to provide treatment for those women,” Secretary of Corrections Nick Lamb said in a press release from the State of South Dakota. “Through dedicated treatment space and a therapeutic community, women will receive the counseling, support and life skills they need to break the cycle of addiction and successfully return to their families and communities.”

State officials said the facility will also support education, Prison Fellowship Ministries programming and workforce preparation. The department also announced partnerships with Western Dakota Technical College on a one-semester business hospitality program and with Sanford Health on a planned three-week patient care technician program aimed at expanding post-release employment pathways.

“Rehabilitation and recovery are essential in keeping our state strong, safe and free,” said Gov. Rhoden. “This modern correctional facility has ample programming space and will play a vital role in lowering recidivism, creating stronger families and protecting our communities.”

The project team includes Architecture Incorporated, CGL and HDR on the design side, while Scull Construction and Flintco served as construction managers at-risk. Construction began in summer 2024, and the DOC plans to begin moving offenders from the Pierre Minimum Center and Women’s Prison in Pierre to the new facility beginning next month, once staff training is completed

The Rapid City facility is part of a large-scale prison overhaul in South Dakota. In September of 2025, Gov. Rhoden signed SB 2 to provide funding for a new $650 million, 1,500-bed men’s prison to replace the 140-year-old South Dakota State Penitentiary. On the same day, Gov. Rhoden established a Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force to renew focus on corrections reform. The men’s prison project officially broke ground on April 22, 2026, with completion expected in 2029.

In March of 2026, Secretary Lamb appointed Eric Aldridge to serve as the Rapid City facility’s first warden ahead of its opening.

This article is based on a press release published by the State of South Dakota on July 10, 2026, with supplemental project information from the South Dakota Department of Corrections.