Making a mayor mad | Crafting contracts | SNAP success | Stressing war | Balancing a budget | Policing in Sioux Falls | Creating a new tax

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PIERRE – South Dakota lawmakers last year approved $650 million for a new men’s prison, in part because the current South Dakota State Penitentiary lacks programming space to reduce recidivism.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the city’s police labor union. The Dakota Scout regrets the error.

Police in Sioux Falls saw fewer hard drugs on the street last year, something both local and state law enforcement leaders are connecting to border security.

PIERRE – County governments will have an option to implement a new half-cent sales tax following passage of legislation in the South Dakota House of Representatives Thursday.

PIERRE – A pair of bills that lean on sales tax revenue have emerged as the leading candidates to provide homeowners with property tax relief.