South Dakota DOC officially completes purchase of land for new men's state prison

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has officially completed its purchase of farmland in Lincoln County for the new state men's penitentiary to be built, according to records recently filed with the Lincoln County Register of Deeds office.

“We have completed the purchase of the land and all of the soil testing, boring and environmental assessments,” stated DOC Secretary Kelli Wasko in an email to the Argus. “Due to litigation, we cannot expound upon further details related to the land.”

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The approximately $7.9 million purchase of around 300 acres of land in Lincoln County, was completed by the DOC and signed off by Gov. Kristi Noem toward the end of February, the records state. The purchase was the last step in finalizing the location of the prison, though a verdict in a pending lawsuit about the location has yet to be determined.

The prison's location was initially announced to the public Oct. 6, even though conversations about moving te South Dakota State Penitentiary from its current Sioux Falls location to a new one had been going on for about two years.

“We know that the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls must be replaced,” stated Wasko in the email to the Argus Leader. “The department has been working with the design team for the new facility, and we look forward to continuing with this project and meeting our move-in deadline of 2028.”

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After the location announcement, Lincoln County residents said while they were privy to the overall conversation, the final decision of the site was done with a lack of transparency, leading to a grassroots opposition group called Neighbors Opposed to Prison Expansion or NOPE.

NOPE’s fight began with filing a lawsuit in early November last year against the DOC and the state, followed by two public forums where residents tried to directly discussed the issue with government officials. Noem and Wasko were not present, citing the lawsuit as a reason they couldn't attend.

NOPE members stood against the state in a case hearing held Jan. 22 in Canton, the county seat for Lincoln County, and demanded more government transparency about the location.

As of today, almost two months after the court hearing, the public is still waiting for Judge Jennifer Mammenga’s ruling.

NOPE members said the finalized sale only spoke to the state' lack of transparency and unwillingness listening to the residents’ concerns.

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NOPE Vice President Madeline Voegeli said the organization did not have any idea that “this transfer was officially happening.”

“I just continue to be baffled by the lack of communication that’s happening within the state of South Dakota and the Department of Corrections,” Voegeli said. “We continue to seek communication, we continue to look for answers in terms of clarifications, and we receive nothing. We continue to find out this information through the news. So, we no longer are surprised, but it’s very unfortunate that we are having to extract these things from third parties.”

Voegeli talked about Senate Bill 49, which was passed during this year's legislative session, and how that bill only focused on the funds to be allocated for the new state prison facility and did not state the location. She said the appropriations committee, in front of whom NOPE members testified, specifically told them more than once that this bill did not state the site of the new facility.

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“Again, we see them moving forward on this location when two things haven’t happened. One, they have not done anything in terms of legislation at the state level with site selection. And two, we’re still waiting to hear on a verdict from Judge Mammenga,” Voegeli said.

Moving forward, Voegeli said NOPE members hope they can work with the state, and the state could work with Lincoln County, to determine a more fiscally-responsible site location. She said NOPE members hope that the state can “pump the brakes” and “zoom out a little to take a look at this entire process differently,” since they don’t believe any of it was done correctly.

Asked what the atmosphere among NOPE members is after the land purchase aas finalized, Voegeli said they are yet to back down and that they’re waiting for the judge to give her final decision before taking their next step.

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“I think we just continue to remain vigilant and aware of the choices that are being made on the state level, (and are) trying to investigate and figure out the best route of action to take,” said Voegeli. “We just remain steadfast and continue to fight for what we believe is the right thing to do for our community.”

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: South Dakota DOC completes farmland purchase for men's state prison