South Dakota's prison pricetag could be more than $2B, task force learns

Consultants recommend three new correctional facilities as old projections deemed 'unrealistic'

The state of South Dakota could build more than $2 billion worth of prisons in the next decade and still be out of space by 2040.

That’s according to a highly anticipated consultant's report commissioned by the Project Prison Reset Task Force, assembled by Gov. Larry Rhoden to reassess the state Department of Corrections’ plan to build a 1,500-bed men’s prison in Lincoln County.

The findings in the 81-page report, compiled by Arizona-based Arrington Watkins Architects (AW) and CGL, were finalized and shared with the task force Thursday. They paint an even costlier outlook for taxpayers than the $825 million plans that had been underway before being paused in February.