SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Project Prison Reset’s task force is set to focus on 14 options for new prison facilities in South Dakota.
The group is scheduled to have their final meeting Tuesday in Sioux Falls.
Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen, who chairs the task force, has shared with KELOLAND News the list of 14 possibilities. Nine options involve more than one geographic location, and five only involve land in northeast Sioux Falls owned by Sweetman Partners, LLP. All told, the 14 possibilities involve five locations, all in eastern South Dakota: the existing Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, a site called North Farm in Sioux Falls near the current penitentiary, a Mitchell-area site, a Worthing-area site, and the Sweetman Partners site in Sioux Falls.
The task force has already unanimously voiced their approval to replace the current South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. But recommendations on location and size aren’t yet complete.
The lowest projected cost among the 14 options is $622,803,589 for one of the options only involving the Sweetman Partners site in Sioux Falls.
Eventually, a special session of the legislature is planned where all state lawmakers can learn about the task force’s recommendations. Whatever plan the group endorses will need the support of two-thirds of both the Senate and House.
Assuming full chambers (35 lawmakers in the Senate and 70 in the House), any recommended plan from Project Prison Reset’s task force would thus need 24 supporters in the Senate and 47 in the House.
