Investing in Public Safety 

By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
September 20, 2025  

Government isn’t very good at solving problems. You might find that rich coming from someone who’s served in public office for 20 plus years, but it’s true – it isn’t government that solves our problems. Even when bills get passed by the Legislature, it’s citizen legislators – elected by their neighbors – who come to Pierre for a short amount of time, do the people’s work, then go home and live with the new laws that they passed.

On the other hand, there are a few problems that are absolutely government’s problem to solve. And in those situations, we should do so to the absolute best of our ability. Public safety is top of that list.

At the state level, one aspect of keeping our communities safe has been in the headlines a lot lately: the state prison. We are on the cusp of passing a new facility – but will be far more than just a prison. It’s an investment in the next 100 years of public safety in South Dakota.

For that reason, all of South Dakota’s major law enforcement associations and Attorney General Jackley are fully onboard with building this new facility.

If we get this done, we can immediately get to work constructing a facility that is far safer. For starters, it won’t be crumbling like the current “Hill” in Sioux Falls. Even the design and layout of the facility will be a tremendous enhancement in safety for both staff and inmates. We aren’t cutting corners on sturdiness and security.

Perhaps more importantly, the new facility will quadruple the amount of space that we have available for programming. This will include vocational training, behavioral and drug counseling, faith-based rehabilitation, and Native American-focused programs – all aimed at making sure that inmates can reenter society better able to contribute, to care for their families, and to embody the values that make South Dakota great.

Over the next several years as construction moves forward, we’ll have the opportunity to focus on programming. Following the passage of the new prison, I’ll be forming a Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force that will focus on expanding programs that work and diving into other opportunities to do impactful rehabilitation.

Legislators deserve major credit for working to get this plan put together – so does my Lieutenant Governor Tony Venhuizen and all the professionals who worked with the prison task force. I’m also grateful for the contractors who are swallowing additional risk to guarantee that South Dakota taxpayers won’t pay a penny more than $650 million for this facility. This plan strikes the right balance between public safety and fiscal responsibility. And once we have it accomplished, we are going to be creating a real impact of the public safety of South Dakotans for decades – up to 100 years.

This is the right plan. This is the right approach to deliver public safety for South Dakotans – and to do so to the very best of our ability. Time to get it done!

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