Cost, dilemmas of South Dakota's potential prison sites examined; $600M target in doubt
Project Prison Reset Task Force weighs $264M price swing in construction options
The state would spend as much as $887 million on new men’s prison facilities — or as little as $622.8 million — depending on where and what gets built.
That’s according to a state engineer and consultant report evaluating more than a dozen potential sites for a new men’s prison — a study that found a swing in pricing of more than a quarter-billion dollars. Most of the proposals call for building multiple facilities at different locations in the state, including a 27-acre site near the existing South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls known as North Farm, and another site in Sioux Falls near Interstate 229 and Rice Street identified as the Sweetman site. Other sites include Worthing, Mitchell, and Springfield at the Mike Durfee State Prison.
