Cash rehash: Legislators again consider payment acceptance requirement for schools
It was deja vu in the South Dakota House Education Committee on Wednesday at the Capitol in Pierre.
Earlier in the legislative session, the committee passed a bill that would require public and accredited private schools to accept cash at events. But the House of Representatives later rejected it.
Sen. Greg Blanc, R-Rapid City, then filed his own, similar bill in the Senate, where it was approved last week.
Lawmakers advance bill to mandate cash acceptance at school events
Blanc's legislation was assigned to the House Education Committee, which rehashed its discussion of the idea Wednesday. Supporters of the bill shared similar stories to those told earlier this session about parents not being able to attend high school activities in some parts of the state, especially in the Sioux Falls area, because some schools exclusively use smartphone app-based, cashless ticketing.
Opponents of the bill included the South Dakota High School Activities Association, organizations representing private businesses, and some activities directors at Sioux Falls high schools.
They worried that Senate Bill 219 would force separate entities to accept cash if they host school-affiliated games. The South Dakota state basketball tournaments, for example, are hosted at city- and state-owned facilities. If the venue decides not to comply, then schools or state tournaments would lose a venue, said Dan Swartos, executive director of the activities association.
Rep. Amber Arlint, R-Sioux Falls, told lawmakers the legislation isn't needed because it already spotlighted a problem and has encouraged school districts and organizations to reevaluate their cashless policies and make cash accommodations on their own. But a majority of lawmakers on the committee decided a state statute is needed.
The bill heads to the House next.
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Prison task force picks Sioux Falls, caps price at $650 million for 1,500 beds
South Dakota State Engineer Stacy Watters, left, and Vance McMillan of JE Dunn testify to the Project Prison Reset task force on July 8, 2025, in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight) SIOUX FALLS — South Dakota can't build the prison it needs at the price it wants without sacrificing quality and longevity. That was the message delivered Tuesday to the Project Prison Reset task force by the state's construction manager, the state engineer and the consultant hired earlier this year to evaluate the options for addressing prison overcrowding. The message didn't take. Citing the political realities of a skeptical Legislature, the task force voted unanimously to recommend that lawmakers support a men's prison at a price point of $650 million during a special session whose date has yet to be set. Prison task force rejects original Lincoln County site, tightens budget for new facility That's $50 million higher than the limit the group set last month. It's also $75 million less than the experts said the group's preferred project would cost hours before the vote. Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, who leads the task force, said the figure is a compromise that moves the state toward a replacement for the 144-year-old penitentiary in Sioux Falls. 'There is no appetite, none, for going above $650 million,' Venhuizen said. House Speaker Jon Hansen, R-Dell Rapids, said securing a two-thirds majority in both chambers — required for spending bills — will mean convincing lawmakers that the job can be done without cost overruns and supplemental budget requests. 'We're going to need to know that we can actually do it for $650 million,' Hansen said. The group also endorsed two vacant plots of industrial land in northeastern Sioux Falls just off Interstate 229, near Gage Brothers, a precast concrete company. The choice of which was left to legislators. The task force voted to shoot down options in Mitchell or Worthing early on during its final meeting Tuesday, which took place at the Military Heritage Alliance in Sioux Falls. Other site options were ruled out during earlier meetings, and some communities, including Box Elder, removed themselves from consideration after submitting proposals. Unlike the residents of Mitchell and Worthing, Joe Bunker of Gage Brothers told the group his company had no qualms with having a prison as a neighbor. 'I just want you to know that we're not opposed to it,' Bunkers said. The buildings on the recommended prison campus should be designed to last 100 years, the task force decided, with 1,200 beds for higher security inmates and another 300 for lower-security inmates. That configuration was one of 14 options presented Tuesday morning from Arrington Watkins, the consulting firm hired to assess the prison system's space needs. The price estimate for the northeastern Sioux Falls prison complex is $725 million. That's $100 million less than a 1,500-bed men's prison proposed for Lincoln County, whose failure to earn the support of the Legislature back in February spurred the creation of the task force. The two sites in northeast Sioux Falls selected as potential prison locations. Mike Quinn of Arrington Watkins ran the task force through the options Tuesday morning. None came in below $600 million, the price cap the task force adopted previously. In addition to brushing off Mitchell and Worthing as site options, the group's final recommendations eliminated options that would have placed buildings in multiple locations. Those included a small prison just north of the penitentiary across a Big Sioux River diversion channel and an additional dormitory-style building in Springfield, current site of Mike Durfee State Prison. Those options were an outgrowth of questions from task force members about the need for a single high-security facility. Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, a task force member, asked Quinn if any of the multi-building setups would be 'the best option for the taxpayer.' The answer was no. Each prison site, regardless of size, Quinn said, would need to have recreation areas, kitchens and mess halls and other support areas. 'When you build three facilities, you're building those buildings three times,' Quinn said, adding 'it's never more economical to split it up into smaller units.' Hansen was one of several task force members to ask about a 1,512-bed Nebraska prison priced at $313 million for inmates at a variety of security levels. South Dakota State Engineer Stacy Watters said the state of Nebraska has refused to release specifications for that facility, and denied a records request from South Dakota for more details, citing nondisclosure agreements with its contractors. What the state did learn, Watters said, was that the $313 million price only includes construction, not site preparation or design, and that it doesn't include the intake area or medical facilities that South Dakota's proposal does. Nebraska has already spent $130 million on buildings with those services over the past seven years, she said, and plans to use cheaper piping for its plumbing in the new prison project. The design and materials being used in Nebraska are unclear, but 'we had to assume that at that price, there was a reduced level of construction,' said Vance McMillan of JE Dunn, the state's construction manager at-risk. Hansen questioned why Nebraska would hold back on sharing its design features for a public project. Venhuizen suggested that Nebraska is building a 'sub-par' facility, and 'that's not something they're really looking to admit.' McMillan told the group it had done all the due diligence necessary to keep its estimates low, bidding out every piece of the project. A cheaper price would mean building a prison that would need replacing sooner. Comparisons to Nebraska or other states weren't 'apples to apples,' he said. Report: Tough-on-crime policies could push prison construction costs as high as $2.1 billion But House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach, R-Spearfish, said lower reported price points in other states have created enough doubt to put a new South Dakota prison in political jeopardy at the prices offered Tuesday. 'I'm sitting here as majority leader trying to figure out how I can sell this to a two-thirds majority of the Legislature not knowing all the answers,' Odenbach said. The state has $566 million set aside in an incarceration construction fund, a balance built by infusions of COVID-19 relief money and earning interest. About $50 million of that is earmarked for a women's prison in Rapid City, which is currently under construction. The fund will grow by $23 million of interest in August, Corrections Department spokesman Michael Winder said Tuesday. That the state has the money set aside makes the project more palatable, but Rep. Greg Jamison, R-Sioux Falls, said worries about ongoing operational costs and concerns that the state might not be getting the best deal have left some lawmakers unwilling to trust the experts. 'Other states are doing it for less. There's a shadow of doubt, and we need to rebuild that trust,' Jamison said, to get legislative approval. Jamison suggested that the group vote for 1,500 beds, cap the price at $600 million, and recommend looking for a new construction manager at-risk, as JE Dunn and Henry Carlson's single proposal was the only one the state fielded back in 2023. McMillan, as well as some task force members, bristled at the idea of dispensing with JE Dunn and starting from scratch. McMillan told the task force that every month wasted carries the potential for greater costs. He urged them to make a decision, and insisted that the team that's worked on prisons for the state for the past two years could meet whatever design specifications that lawmakers want. 'We would be happy to build you a steel structure that would last you 50 years. That's a decision that you guys have to make,' McMillan said. McMillan said it would be 'a tall order' to build a 100-year facility for $650 million. Judge Jane Wipf Pfeifle, a task force member, said switching gears on a construction manager would ultimately cost taxpayers. She also questioned the wisdom of setting an 'arbitrary' cap on costs that could hamstring a new prison's ability to meet the state's needs. Two consultants' reports since 2022 have pointed to inmate population growth that will outpace the state's ability to house prisoners without major policy shifts or new construction. The experts, she said, have shown their work to explain their prices and how their designs can address the problem. Prison task force is offered sites east of Box Elder, near unbuilt hog operation in Sioux Falls 'They're not saying 'Gosh, I read in the newspaper that it's cheaper in Arkansas or Nebraska,'' Wipf Pfeifle said. Sen. Jamie Smith, D-Sioux Falls, was among the task force members to worry aloud about what the state would lose — including space for things like rehabilitation programming — by placing a cap of $650 million on the project. Smith said he had little choice but to support the lower-cost compromise figure, but that 'there are going to be corners that will have to be cut in order to get to that number, based on everything that you've seen today.' Sen. Jim Mehlhaff, R-Pierre, expressed similar concerns. Based on a question from Mehlhaff, Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko told the group that after closing up the penitentiary, she could likely fill 1,500 beds with the state's current prison population. 'We might build a facility that is overcrowded the day we move in,' Mehlhaff said, adding that spending $600 million of saved-up money without solving the problem would be 'a poor stewardship of taxpayer money.' Even so, Mehlhaff said, he recognizes that his fellow lawmakers need to be willing to move forward. Mehlhaff moved that the task force recommend the Legislature to direct the Department of Corrections to 'come up with a plan' to build 1,500 beds 'in the most efficient way possible,' with 300 beds for lower-security inmates. Attorney General and task force member Marty Jackley suggested a $650 million price cap as an amendment. Prison work group peppered with public testimony in first Sioux Falls meeting That addition was 'not necessarily friendly,' the Mehlhaff said, 'but if we could move the ball forward, I could accept that.' Before the final vote, both Venhuizen and Hansen, a 2026 gubernatorial candidate, lauded the result as a win. Venhuizen said the task force had produced a workable compromise. Hansen said the group was able to find a location that, unlike the original Lincoln County proposal, is palatable to neighbors. When asked if the lower price might force the Legislature to build a facility meant to last less than 100 years, Venhuizen said 'I would rather build it smaller' than cheaper. Compromises will need to be made, he said, but those decisions will need to come from the Legislature. Hansen said he also wants to see a durable facility. He couldn't speculate on what kinds of compromises might be necessary, but said there's no question that a higher price tag is off the table. 'We'll have to see what these guys bring to the Legislature,' Hansen said of the design team. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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Governor commits funding to revive training program for inmates
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden speaks to the media during a press conference on March 13, 2025, at the Capitol in Pierre. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight) South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden is giving new life to a training program for inmates that was shelved recently. 'Being Open for Opportunity means investing in people and believing in second chances,' Rhoden said in a statement Monday, referencing a slogan he often uses to promote economic development. The program will bring on-site instruction to the state penitentiary so inmates can earn a certificate to work on diesel heavy equipment. Inmate training program shelved while prison construction talks continue Last August, the Department of Corrections and Southeast Technical College got approval from the state Board of Technical Education to expand the college's diesel program to the penitentiary. Officials later decided to shelve the initiative due to a lack of funding and concerns over how it would fit into the still-developing plans for construction of a new men's prison at an undetermined site. Rhoden announced Monday that he will provide $1.5 million for the training program from the Future Fund, a pot of economic development money under the exclusive control of the governor. Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko praised the program's reinstatement. 'Education is one of the best ways to support rehabilitation and reduce recidivism,' Wasko said in a statement. 'These programs give people purpose, build skills, and strengthen families and communities across South Dakota.' The diesel training program will fill a void left by Metal Craft Industries, a privately operated prison shop that employed inmates at market wages. The company said it was pushed out of the prison system last year by administrators. Wasko has said the company left voluntarily to avoid adhering to newer, stricter security protocols. The Future Fund, which Rhoden is tapping to provide money for the training program, is supported by a surcharge on employer payroll taxes. State law says the fund is for 'purposes related to research and economic development for the state.' Some of former Gov. Kristi Noem's uses of the fund were controversial. That included money to build a state-owned shooting range that the Legislature refused to fund, a workforce recruitment ad campaign starring Noem, a 'Governor's Cup' rodeo that included Noem carrying in the American flag on horseback, and a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
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Legislative group studies SD's high incarceration rate, overrepresentation of Indigenous prisoners
Linsey Sapp, who wears an "Inmate Rights" shirt and whose husband is incarcerated, speaks to lawmakers at an Initial Incarceration, Reentry Analysis, and Comparison of Relevant States Interim Committee meeting in Sioux Falls on June 24, 2025. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight) SIOUX FALLS — The overrepresentation of Native Americans in state prisons, a lack of rehabilitation programming, and a need for more intervention to keep people out of prison are the biggest issues flagged by members of South Dakota's legislative recidivism and rehabilitation committee. The group held its first meeting Tuesday at the University of South Dakota's Sioux Falls campus. The committee is tasked with analyzing the makeup of the prison population, comparing incarceration rates and sentencing laws in similar states, and identifying barriers to inmates' reintegration into society. South Dakota has the nation's 15th-highest incarceration rate, according to The Sentencing Project. Forty-three percent of adult offenders in South Dakota return to prison within three years of release, according to 2023 statistics from the state Department of Corrections. Some lawmakers who voted in February against funding to build an $825 million men's prison said the state should be investing more into rehabilitation programs to reduce its prison population. Lawmakers on the recidivism and rehabilitation committee may propose bills and funding recommendations during the next legislative session. Some members of the committee also sit on the governor's Project Prison Reset committee, which is searching for a location to build a new prison at a cost up to $600 million. Mitchell Republican Rep. Jeff Bathke is the former director of substance abuse programs for the state Department of Corrections and a member of the recidivism and rehabilitation committee. He hopes the group will dig further into rehabilitation and behavioral health programming to understand existing programs and their efficacy. 'Right now, we're just a warehouse. We warehouse people,' Bathke told South Dakota Searchlight after the meeting. 'Then they come back because we did nothing as a community to help them.' The first meeting supported his belief that the state should hire a consultant to better evaluate the prison system and make recommendations to policy and programming. The state has hired a consultant to study prison construction needs, and that consultant said strict sentencing laws are among the factors driving prison population growth. 'This is a severely damaged system,' Bathke said. 'But it can be great. It can be the best program in the nation, with some changes.' Native Americans account for nearly 40% of the state's prison inmates. They account for about 9% of the state's overall population, according to a presentation from the Legislative Research Council. That statistic is 'alarming,' said Rep. Kadyn Wittman, D-Sioux Falls, during the meeting. Sioux Falls Republican Rep. Greg Jamison, who co-chairs the committee, told lawmakers he believes the overrepresentation is one of the 'biggest issues' facing the committee. The disparity of Native Americans in the prison system has persisted for decades. Bathke added that offenders sentenced in federal court after crimes on tribal land aren't accounted for in the state data. 'It is way worse than what these numbers actually show,' Bathke said. South Dakota's disparity is higher than similar states analyzed by the committee: Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. Legislative staff compared the states' prison populations because they share economic and demographic similarities. Jamison said he hopes to connect with tribal leaders this summer to hear their suggestions for addressing the problem. South Dakota also has the third highest female incarceration rate in the nation, according to The Sentencing Project. Nearly two-thirds of incarcerated women in the state are Native American, and about half of their worst offenses are drug-related. North Dakota has the lowest prison population in the four-state comparison presented to the committee, at under 2,000 inmates, along with the lowest incarceration rate and lowest female incarceration rate. 'We're going to have to dig into North Dakota a bit,' Jamison said. Several lawmakers and members of the public raised concerns about rehabilitation programming — both the quality of programs and the number of programs available to inmates. A Department of Corrections employee was not on hand to answer lawmaker questions. Leaders of a company that trained and employed maximum security inmates at the state penitentiary for two decades said they were pushed out of the prison system by administrators last year, although administrators said the company left voluntarily to avoid adhering to newer, stricter security protocols. Gov. Larry Rhoden announced this week his administration will use economic development dollars from the state's Future Fund to start a diesel mechanic training program in the metal shop's former space. Linsey Sapp, whose husband is incarcerated, told lawmakers during public comment that the lack of classes and programming is a serious concern, especially if inmates are spending '23 hours a day' in their cells. 'Rehabilitation is important, and we are failing,' she said. Tracii Barse, a Native American business owner who introduced himself as a seven-time felon to lawmakers, said mentorship during and after a prison sentence is necessary to successfully reintegrate inmates into society. He suggested policy changes to allow ex-inmates to come into the prison to teach classes or mentor current inmates. While there are several volunteers who mentor, former prisoners better understand inmates' history and challenges, he said. Barse finds it ironic that he's allowed to enter a school to mentor children, despite his background, but he can't use that same experience and connection to help inmates. Sen. Tamara Grove, R-Lower Brule, encouraged lawmakers on the committee to explore the path that leads a person to prison and reasons why people reoffend. In better understanding those areas, the state can intervene, deter and help people while they're in their home, she added. Doing so would be cheaper, healthier, and keep a community intact — especially given the number of Native Americans removed from their communities due to incarceration, Grove said. Grove, along with Sen. Kevin Jensen, R-Canton, discussed the possibility of removing a person's felony conviction from their record for certain crimes after an amount of time or after rehabilitation, to help with reintegration and recidivism. Felons are not allowed to live in certain neighborhoods, can't have some jobs and can't own a gun. 'I think, at some point, it has to be where the person has paid for their crime and they move back to wholeness in whatever way that looks,' Grove said. 'I think that's a really big part of re-entry.' The committee's next meeting will be held in July in the Rapid City area. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
