Gov. Rhoden Announces Additional Parole Reform Solutions
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced immediate steps to help improve parole supervision in South Dakota, all of which have been executed or are in the process of execution.
“Keeping South Dakotans safe is the most important duty of government, and we have been working specifically on strengthening the safety and integrity of our parole system,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “I appreciate the law enforcement leaders who have been working with me to deliver immediate improvements to the parole system. Together, we will better protect our communities.”
Governor Rhoden and the South Dakota Department of Corrections (DOC) are making it faster and easier to revoke repeat parole offenders and remove them from South Dakota communities. These directives will make parole supervision more focused, hold parolees more accountable, increase penalties for repeat offenders, and send parole violators back to prison faster.
“Parole is a layered issue, and the processes involve implementing the state law as it’s written and coordinating among corrections, judges, local law enforcement, and the Board of Pardons and Parole,” said DOC Secretary Nick Lamb. “I am grateful for Governor Rhoden’s leadership as we work together to reform parole and enhance public safety.”
Governor Rhoden’s directive delivers several results, including:
- Creating an enhanced compliance unit with five specialized parole agents focused on a higher level of supervision including nights and weekends for the most intensive parolees;
- DOC will appoint experienced parole agents to the enhanced compliance unit and add five new agents to help lower caseloads and improve supervision at all levels. These additional parole officer jobs have been posted;
- Increasing punishment for parole violators. Instead of treating all misdemeanors the same, DOC has enhanced the severity of sanctions for DUIs, simple assault, and weapons violations that are a danger to others;
- Enforcing accountability by continuing to revoke parole from more people who are noncompliant, in particular with drug use. In the first week, DOC nearly doubled the average number of revocations and will continue to moving forward;
- Requesting the Board of Pardons and Parole process revocations faster and impose stronger sanctions. The director will hold disposition hearings more frequently and propose to the parole board increasing the length of returns to prison; and
- Working with parole stakeholders and DOC on the legislation and budgetary items to further reform parole and support local law enforcement.
All of these directives have been executed, or are in the process of execution, at the direction of Governor Rhoden.
Less than one month ago, the South Dakota Department of Corrections announced the “Smarter Supervision Initiative,” which engages a consultant to review policies to supervise more effectively and reduce violent reoffending across the state. These directives are the next step in the continued effort to help solve the problems facing South Dakota communities when it comes to parole.
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It really is not a “layered” issue. What if we got rid of parole altogether. If the offender gets 20 years…We will see you in 20 years. If the offender gets 5 years even, then we will see you in 5 years. Quit letting these animals out thinking they are going to be good in society. None of these criminals fear the system anymore.
Judge Bean, that doesn’t jive with Mr. Speaker Hansen’s voting against building a new prison yet hollering that we need to do more to prevent the recid…recid…you know, the going-back-to-prison-ism.
grudznick likes your 20 years means 20 years, and frankly a few more advertised beatings on the news would keep the numbers down.
They talk a good game. Speaker Hansen pushed for SB 70 which puts more strain on local resources, votes against the prison and even pushed the recent tax shift,oh wait, tax cuts for property owners too. And still nothing for municipal governments to deal with the parole people.
Too little too late. And getting rid of parole is not the answer either. First and foremost, there needs to be some effort put into rehabilitation. Some of the inmates have never been encouraged or shown how to be successful. They feel terrible about themselves. They grew up in dysfunctional environments that most of us could never even imagine.
The state has always been resistant to rehabilitative efforts.
Decent people who make mistakes should be able to have second chances with a portion of their sentence hanging over their head.
Locking them all up equals another prison. ,And subsequent political nonsense when it comes to allocating funds.
The $600 million, 1500 bed prison will be too small the day it’s opened, because many people in the legislature are protecting their conservative credentials. Political capital is never to be spent, only saved.
Our system is broken due to weak leadership. Noem was the worst. Law-enforcement agencies have been begging the state for help for years. The state has been crapping on local jurisdictions, Forcing the locals to try innovative enforcement programs. Enforcement is worthless if prosecution can’t ensure justice. we can’t have justice if the criminals are no longer afraid of doing time.
Too little, too late.
You can say that again. Will Howard, Carley, Voita, Lapka, Garcia, Auch, and who knows what other wackos be on the next money committee being sure the state’s “bureaucracy” doesn’t get bigger, thereby putting those 5 new unauthorized parole officers out of a job and 935,000 SD citizens in mortal danger?
Gah! I forgot Sjaarda!
He has worked on MANY critical issues concurrently in just 15 months. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Not his fault ones before him kicked cans down the road but he’s covering a huge amount of issues all at once. And doing it well.
Not his fault? He was 2nd in command and served in the legislature most of his life. I agree he can’t fix everything but you also can’t pretend he has no responsibility. This is an issue people have been screaming about (unheard by Larry and his admin) for far too long. He’s responding now because it’s a political nightmare. I worry he just doesn’t have the skillset to be #1. He looks so tired and is slow to fix things,
Slow to fix things? He has accomplished an enormous amount of things in the short time he has become Governor. Are you kidding? He has put South Dakota on the map from countries around the world in the agriculture world. He was told he’d never get the new prison done and ground has already been broken. He took an expired tax break and turned it into giving property owners a tax break meaning more money in their pockets. And he isn’t done. He said it’s a start. He’s taken criminals off the streets with his Prairie Thunder program. He’s constantly on the go so no wonder he looks tired sometimes. You would too if you were working as hard as he has been. He is the proven leader and has the experience to take South Dakota places as he’s already done it in just 14 months. He’s the ONLY real choice.
Law enforcement have been sounding the alarm for a long time. For years, officers have warned that our parole system was failing to keep communities safe, with too many offenders returning to the streets without meaningful accountability.
This erosion of public safety didn’t happen overnight. The passage of SB 70 years ago was the turning point that left our state less safe by weakening supervision and consequences for those who continued to violate the law. The results have been predictable: rising frustration among police, sheriffs, and prosecutors who see the same individuals committing crime after crime.
That’s why today’s announcement from Gov Rhoden is welcome news even if it feels far too late for some families and communities that have already paid the price and unfortunately feels like it’s only happening because of a campaign.
Slow to fix things? He has accomplished an enormous amount of things in the short time he has become Governor. Are you kidding? He has put South Dakota on the map from countries around the world in the agriculture world. He was told he’d never get the new prison done and ground has already been broken. He took an expired tax break and turned it into giving property owners a tax break meaning more money in their pockets. And he isn’t done. He said it’s a start. He’s taken criminals off the streets with his Prairie Thunder program. He’s constantly on the go so no wonder he looks tired sometimes. You would too if you were working as hard as he has been. He is the proven leader and has the experience to take South Dakota places as he’s already done it in just 14 months. He’s the ONLY real choice.
Ok Reggie