PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota Supreme Court says a group that was trying to stop state government’s plan to build a men’s prison in Lincoln County lacked legal standing to bring the lawsuit.
In a 5-0 decision publicly released on Thursday, the justices said that Mike Hoffman, Michelle Jensen, Jay White, and Tom Eiesland, as well as a non-profit corporation, NOPE-Lincoln County Inc., didn’t have authority to enforce the Lincoln County zoning regulations that were the basis for the lawsuit.
You can read the full decision attached below.
“In South Dakota, the responsibility to enforce a county’s zoning regulations lies with its board of commissioners,” Justice Mark Salter stated in the unanimous opinion. “The provisions of SDCL chapter 11-2 do not authorize enforcement by private individuals, though they do allow indirect enforcement efforts through a mandamus procedure directed to county officials.”
Justice Salter concluded, “The Appellants are unable to identify a statute or other legal authority
granting them a private right to enforce the Zoning Ordinance, and the declaratory judgment remedy, itself, confers no such substantive rights. This case is, therefore, not justiciable, leaving no basis upon which a court could exercise jurisdiction.”
The case became somewhat moot earlier this year, when the state House of Representatives refused to approve the final funding package for the project.
That defeat led Gov. Larry Rhoden to appoint a task force. Its members this week unanimously recommended that the men’s prison be built in Sioux Falls.
The planned prison would have been near 477th Avenue and 278th Street in Lincoln County between Harrisburg and Canton. A circuit court judge first heard arguments on the case in January 2024.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on this appeal in March.
This is a developing story. KELOLAND News will have more coverage online and on-air.
