VIEWPOINT | Springfield prison a model for future correctional facilities

Guest column by Scott Kostal, mayor of Springfield, South Dakota

As the home of Mike Durfee State Prison, Springfield plays an important role in South Dakota’s Department of Corrections. The DOC system is receiving significant attention this winter with the planning and resourcing of a new men’s prison in rural Lincoln County.

As the mayor of Springfield, I’m glad to see serious discussion on updating facilities within this system and addressing overcrowding and rehabilitation of the incarcerated population, but I would like to clarify some points regarding the Springfield facility and provide a viewpoint on the need to continue moving forward with the construction of the new men’s prison.

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Recently, former Chief Warden Doug Weber published open letters to the state Legislature and conducted interviews regarding his opposition to the facility. It has also been stated by Weber, and others in opposition, that it is the Springfield facility that should be closed and moved to a new location in Yankton County.

Weber stated the college facility in Springfield was built in 1881, the same year as the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. The year 1881 is when the Dakota Territory legislature, meeting in the capital Yankton, authorized the establishment of both the territorial prison in Sioux Falls and Southern State Normal School in Springfield. The new prison was built immediately, making the concrete, iron, and wood 144 years old. The first building on the Springfield campus was built in 1896 when the local community donated the time and money for its construction. This building later became a wing of the Main Building.

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