The Department of Corrections has responded to a request for information made by the Lincoln County Commission regarding the future prison site.
The letter, sent Friday, comes after the DOC purchased more than 300 acres of land from the state in rural Lincoln County for the new men’s prison, which will be built by 2028. Area landowners have decried the decision, taking to the Lincoln County Commission to express their feelings.
The State Penitentiary, built in 1881, will be decommissioned once the new prison is finished.
Kellie Wasko, the Secretary of Corrections, wrote in the letter that the reason why the land was purchased from the Office of Schools and Public Lands was because “there is very little land publicly for sale… Individual outreach to area landowners did not produce a potential site as many landowners declined to even discuss selling their land.”
More:What we know about the new men’s state prison to be built in Lincoln County
Discussions around the new men’s prison, which will replace the State Penitentiary located in central Sioux Falls, started more than two years ago. In February, lawmakers earmarked $52 million for the purchase of land and design of the state-of-the-art facility.
The total cost of the land, located at western corner of 477th and 278th Street, was $7.9 million.
Soil sampling and environmental assessments will begin this fall, according to Wasko.
“Emphasis must be placed on the fact that building a new prison is an immediate public safety need of Sioux Falls, Lincoln County and the entire state that must move forward,” Wasko wrote.
What did Kellie Wasko address in her letter?
Wasko reiterated the land purchase was fiscally responsible and DOC took into consideration the population of the surrounding area.
“There is very little housing within one-half mile, utilities can be developed at a reasonable cost and this land is near several communities without being too close to any one city or town,” she wrote.
She noted 2,000 people currently live less than half a mile from the proposed prison site.
As for future growth, Wasko looked at the history of the Penitentiary. The city continued to grow and develop even as the Penitentiary sat on the hill overlooking the city. Nearly 100,000 live within 4 miles of the facility.
Wasko also wrote that DOC plans to pave 3 to 4 miles of road, all at the expense of the state, to access the new facility. She added the engineering team would be open to a conversation with Lincoln County regarding what roads should be paved that would best facilitate future growth.
More:Lincoln County residents voice opposition to proposed South Dakota State Penitentiary site
Waste water for the proposed site hasn’t been finalized yet. Wasko wrote the state wanted to run a sewer to the neighboring community of Harrisburg at the expense of the state. But if that can’t happen, the state would use 160 acres of the land to build a lagoon system, something considered a last resort option.
“We believe running additional sewer capacity to a neighboring community will have many benefits for the area,” she wrote.
Well, what about community safety?
Wasko took time to address that, too, saying she had lived and raised her children within a mile of a prison for more than 23 years. She noted in Sioux Falls, plenty of people had raised their families near the Penitentiary.
The modern facility, she explained, will have physical and technological barriers and will have taller watchtowers than the units themselves.
Parolees will also not be left in Lincoln County to fend for themselves, Wasko wrote. Parolees must have a plan in place that includes housing arrangements, transportation and employment. That person is then transported to the community where their plan was approved and accepted.
Law enforcement will be provided by DOC or the Department of Criminal Investigation, with very rare instances of the prison needing to rely either on the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department or Canton Police Department, Wasko wrote.
Emergency services will also be housed within the prison with its own medical clinic, Wasko wrote. Ambulance transportation for incarcerated individuals to a Sioux Falls hospital is not normally used, and DOC provides transportation.
The Lincoln County Commission will address Wasko’s letter and other developments about the proposed prison site at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Lincoln County Courthouse.
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