SIOUX FALLS — The South Dakota Department of Corrections will pay the state’s most populous county a premium to house people accused of violating parole, under the terms of a short-term contract approved Tuesday.
The price bump for room and board at the Minnehaha County Jail is one ripple effect from a state-level crackdown on parolee behavior. It’s pushed more parolees into local jails and spurred the sheriff to open and staff the facility’s dormant fourth floor to make room.
In late April, Gov. Larry Rhoden signaled the state’s intention to jail parolees more quickly for things like failed drug tests and new drunken driving charges, and to hire five more parole agents. Rhoden’s announcement came days after a parolee allegedly shot and injured a Sioux Falls police officer. A year earlier, another man on parole is alleged to have fired on and injured an officer in the city…