Legislature did the right thing

Last week state legislators met for a special session with the purpose of taking a vote on whether or not to fund the largest capital project in the history of the State of South Dakota. That project, of course, is the construction of a new state prison that will replace the oldest part of the current state prison, referred to as “The Hill.” This portion of the prison was constructed a whopping 144 years ago, before South Dakota even had statehood. It is said it is the oldest functioning prison in the United States.
Just that last sentence in itself should tell you how much the new prison was needed. Even if you think prisoners should live in squallor (“it’s prison, it’s not supposed to be the [insert fancy hotel here]” is a common refrain), I’m sure you can agree that those who work in the state prison should not be subjected to a work environment that is unsafe and is frankly crumbling by all accounts. Earlier this year Gov. Larry Rhoden said he felt it was a miracle the state had not yet been sued due to the conditions of the prison.
A new prison will keep the inmates and the employees that much safer. New prisons are designed with the ultimate safety in mind, and can be constructed in such a way. That is all to the good. The safer we can keep everybody in a facility that is already inherently dangerous due to its use, the better.
Best of all, it sounds like there will be no debt taken on when this prison is built. The state had already been preparing for this day, and has squirreled away enough money that the $650 million price tag for the prison will be paid in cash. There will be no loans. There will be no bonds.
We do question all the money that was poured into a previous location that was eventually abandoned as the location for the prison. Millions of dollars were spent prepping the site, and it cannot be recovered. It was truly an outrageous waste of taxpayer money, and nobody has really been held to account for that waste. I know our legislators want answers, and to that end, perhaps that is why our District 30 senator, Amber Hulse, cast a no vote when it comes to funding the prison. While Reps. Tim Goodwin and Trish Ladner voted in favor of the funding (you can read their rationale as to why in their columns in this issue), Hulse had stated to us for an earlier story how concerned she was about the wasted money and wondered who was getting rich off a prison that is suddenly nearly $200 million less than it was when it was intially pitched. Hulse was unavailable for comment.
The waste aside and the politics aside, this state needed a new men’s prison. We now have the funding, and we now have the location. I’m sure construction will begin soon, as will discussion as to how much more it will cost to operate this new prison. The newer portion of the prison in Sioux Falls will remain operational, so this is most definitely an added ongoing expense.
Thank you to our legislators for buckling down and getting done what we had no choice but to do.