PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — Now that a task force has unanimously recommended a new 1,500-bed men’s state prison that can last 100 years be built in the Sioux Falls area at a cost of no more than $650 million, the spokeswoman for South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden said he wants to talk with legislative leaders before calling a special session for lawmakers to consider the proposal.
Josie Harms, the governor’s press secretary, said Tuesday afternoon that Rhoden intends to speak with top House and Senate members, but it hasn’t been determined yet when such a conversation would occur. Support from at least two-thirds of lawmakers in each chamber — that’s a minimum of 24 in the Senate and 47 in the House — is necessary for the funding bill to pass.
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Gov. Rhoden appointed the Project Prison Reset task force last winter, after the House failed to pass the final $763 million funding for an $825 million new men’s prison that former Gov. Kristi Noem and the state Department of Corrections had planned for years. Site preparation had recently started on the undeveloped land in Lincoln County between Harrisburg and Canton.
Rhoden originally planned for the special session to be held on July 22, but that was dropped at the request of the task force…