Architects, consultants, sewer pipe, travel: Where millions in wasted prison money went

During a prison work group meeting on April 2, 2025, Ryan Brunner, an adviser to South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, points toward the property line of land in rural Lincoln County that had been surveyed for the purpose of constructing a men’s prison. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

South Dakota’s governor and lawmakers put more than two years of debate behind them recently with a decision to build a prison, but there’s more than rhetoric in the rearview.

They’re also leaving behind more than $20 million…

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