A drawing of the planned men’s prison in rural Lincoln County. (Courtesy of Department of Corrections)
The South Dakota Legislature has set aside $569 million for the creation of a new men’s prison in rural Lincoln County. Since construction costs rarely go down, it’s safe to say that South Dakota will likely pay even more for what will be the most expensive capital project in state history.
Given the recent spate of unfortunate stories about strife in the prisons, it looks like that system, far from being run by professionals, is under the care of the Keystone Kops.
This year the prison system has been the subject of a series of lockdowns , though no one outside the prison walls, or, it seems, within the prison walls, is sure how many. It has seen criticism about a lack of transparency from citizens who serve on the Corrections Commission. Assertions about a variety of problems in the prison system have led to the formation of a citizen group to investigate those claims and work for change.