Address to Joint Legislative Session

 
By: Gov. Larry Rhoden
September 23, 2025  

Lt. Governor Venhuizen, Speaker Hansen, Supreme Court justices, Constitutional officers, members of the House and Senate, and my fellow South Dakotans:

I want to welcome you all to the Capitol today. Thank you for making the time to be here. It’s customary for a Governor to give remarks at the beginning of a Special Session. But I promise not to take too much of your time. We have important work to get to, and I don’t want to hold it up.

We’re here today to complete something that is several years in the making.

Truth be told, I’m actually impressed with the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. It has stood for 144 years. That is no small feat. It’s probably a lot longer than anyone expected.

But our state is a lot different than it was 144 years ago. For starters, we weren’t even a state yet. We were still a territory. And as our state has grown, so has the number of criminals in need of rehabilitation.

And while there may be some that say, "lock em up and throw away the key,” we all realize that nearly all of them are going to be released back into society. Unless an offender is serving a life sentence, we will see them again in a South Dakota community.

If the primary goal of government is to keep people safe, we can and must do better. That means making long-term investments in public safety. And it means placing an emphasis on reducing recidivism and getting offenders back to work. That’s why I will be launching a new Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force following the passage of this legislation.

8 months ago, when I stood in front of you for the first time as Governor, I told you that the Penitentiary in Sioux Falls was “gothic.” That reality hasn’t changed in the last 8 months. Everyone realizes the Penitentiary needs to be replaced. But our situation has certainly changed.

After the proposal for a new penitentiary failed in this Chamber, we listened and put all options back on the table. I worked with legislative leadership to form a task force to look at this opportunity with fresh eyes, take public input, and build support. We put equal numbers of proponents and opponents on that task force. We included members from both chambers and both parties. And we brought in relevant folks from the fields of law enforcement, criminal justice, and behavioral health.

I challenged the task force to answer three questions:

1)              Do we need a new prison?

2)             How big should it be?

3)              And where should it be located?

I knew that we needed to build support on the answers to all three questions. But I never dreamed that we would have unanimous agreement from the task force on the answers to all three of those questions.

I’ve served on many task forces or summer studies. I’ve even chaired a few of them. Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t have to tell you that it’s rare to reach unanimous agreement on such high-profile issues. Especially when it comes to making key recommendations on big issues or large projects.

This will be the largest single public safety investment in the history of South Dakota. And the task force reached agreement on how to move forward. So today, I want to thank each and every member of that task force for taking leadership to get us to this point. 

First, the man behind me – Lt. Governor Venhuizen. Tony, you took what seemed like an impossible task and helped get us to this point. You built agreement, then helped coordinate the design for the facility – Thank you.

To the Senators on the task force – President Pro Tem Karr, Majority Leader Mehlhaff, Senator Otten, Senator Lapka, Senator Kolbeck, Senator Hohn, and Senator Smith: Some of you supported the initial plan – some of you didn’t. But each of you played a role to get us here as well. Senators Karr and Mehlhaff in particular have been fantastic advocates of the task force’s plan. Senators, thank you for taking leadership and offering to be the chamber that runs this bill first.

And to the House members on the task force – Speaker Hansen, Majority Leader Odenbach, Speaker Pro Tem Lems, Representative Reisch, Representative Jamison, Representative Mulder, Representative Kolbeck, and Representative Healy: Again, some of you supported the initial plan – some of you didn’t. But your service on the Task Force represents some of the best we can expect from South Dakotans. You rolled up your sleeves and got to work to get the people/s business done. Thank you for hammering out an agreement.

And we have many of the non-legislator members of the task force here, as well: Attorney General Marty Jackley, Yankton Police Chief Jason Foote, Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Daniel Haggar, Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, Judge Jane Pfeifle, and Tiffany Wolfgang, who brought a perspective on behavioral health to the task force. Thank each of you for your unique contributions and expertise. You took the call and stepped up in public service when asked. Thank you. And to the Minnehaha County representatives, in particular – thank you for helping us build a Sioux Falls-focused solution.

The task force delivered unanimous agreement on all three questions presented to it. Their process was a true example of the benefits of open and civil discourse. They came from different sides of an issue. They took 8 hours of public comment from dozens of South Dakotans. They met four times in various parts of the state. And they built consensus when it seemed impossible. They proved that open and civil discourse doesn’t just make for good process – it makes for good policy.

Now, we have a good plan. This plan fills our need of 1,500 beds at the relevant security levels. It will be built to a 100-year construction standard, meaning we won’t have to do this again for a long time. It triples the programming and vocational training space that we have at the current state penitentiary. It has increased space for faith-based rehabilitation. And while this plan for the new Sioux Falls site cuts costs – it does not cut corners on security.

This plan has the support of South Dakota’s major law enforcement associations. They know that a new facility will help them keep our communities safe. Because this proposed plan meets the $650 million budget set by the task force, we don't have to borrow money to pay for this investment. 

I also want to recognize a few folks who are not here today.

To Former Governor Kristi Noem: thank you for having the wisdom and foresight to save for this project. This wasn’t a problem that you created. It wasn’t even a problem new to your Administration. But you were the first to chart a course to get this done. We would not be where we are today without your leadership. Thank you.

The same thanks goes to the former legislators who saved money so that we can pay cash to invest in public safety. That includes many of you in this chamber today. Those folks voted to save money in the past to protect taxpayers in the future. By paying cash up front, we’ll save hundreds of millions of dollars in the long-run. Because of those actions, we don't have to raise taxes or cut services to invest in the public safety of the great people of South Dakota.

I’m also grateful for the contractors. They are swallowing additional risk to guarantee that South Dakota taxpayers won’t pay more than $650 million for this facility. By doing so, they put the biggest outstanding question to rest.

Throughout this process, there have been a lot of questions on this public safety investment. I was committed to making sure we got to this day without any questions left lingering. And it seems to me that we’ve answered them all. But I want to make one last commitment to you. When I stood up here 8 months ago, I told you that I wouldn’t be tough to find. And I’ll keep that promise.

Today, if any legislator has a question for me, or for my staff, my door will be open. Come on down to the 2nd floor, and let’s talk. Or if you’d prefer, we can just as easily come up here. If you still have any questions, let’s get them answered.

I promised not to talk long – and I’ve talked long enough. Thank you for prioritizing the safety of our correctional officers – and inmates, as well. Thank you for making an investment in public safety. This project will build the foundation for a century of true offender rehabilitation to take place.

South Dakota is a true example of fiscal responsibility, and an example to the rest of the country of what it means to be strong, safe, and free.

God bless you. And may God continue to bless the great state of South Dakota.

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