LETTER | Prison funding in House Bill 1025 unnecessary

Letter from former Chief Warden Douglas Weber

House Bill 1025 provides the Department of Corrections another $182 million dollars from our state’s current general and reserve funds. It moves the entirety of the existing Incarceration Construction Fund along with this bill’s appropriations directly to the DOC. The sole use of these funds plus interest constructs a single men’s maximum (Level 5) prison in Lincoln County.

DOC Secretary Kelly Wasko presented information during the Joint Appropriations Committee meeting on Jan. 23 that the existing penitentiary in Sioux Falls has utilized $30 million dollars for upgrades and improvements since 2013. These upgrades and improvements average $2.7 million dollars per year. The $825 million requested for one facility in Lincoln County could resolve multiple incarceration issues across the state and sustain the DOC needs for decades to come.

Our state has been wise and prudent over the years in its annual expenditures and building projects to serve all, not just one need. The Jameson Annex in Sioux Falls already provides 576 maximum custody beds with the potential expansion of D pod for an additional 192 beds when needed. There are other options to meet the capacity and security needs of the DOC beyond this one maximum (Level 5) project and these costs. Our state is in a much better position than others across the country regarding its prison facilities because of this wise and prudent annual spending. Everything isn’t perfect, pristine, and new but our state doesn’t need to spend $825 million dollars to accomplish prison building improvements for current and future needs.

Please give our state and its citizens the opportunity to explore other prison building options beyond just those recommended by outside paid consultants. Please do not further this bill or approve it without further analysis.

Douglas L. Weber
Chief Warden and Director of Adult Prison Operations - Retired