The dust is settling as the ink dries on Senate Bill 2, the measure brought by the legislature to put in place the recommendations of the Prison Reset committee, finally bringing to a close a debate that’s been years in the making, arguing, remaking, resetting and now passing.

It has been an ugly process with a lot of people pushed off the bus on the way to it’s destination. But as we recap “what happened” in the last few weeks, it is clear that there were some winners and losers in the process, as brinksmanship had some political candidates taking a chance to come out of top.. except they floundered it badly in the execution.  And if anything, set their chances back significantly.

So, where’s our view from 10,000 feet on who won and who lost in this process?

 

The Winner: Governor Larry Rhoden.

If they looked at the process, some might call this an ugly win, having to reset a location and completely revise a package handed to him by his predecessor Governor Kristi Noem, and sometimes having to knuckle under to a legislature who would not get on board. But after pivots and bumps along the way, including removing his Secretary of Corrections to get his deal to come together, they finally came across with a plan and a message that reasonable legislators could not vote against.

The risk was that if it didn’t happen, this might have been the end of Rhoden’s Gubernatorial campaign before it began. But the art of politics is one of compromise and getting the job done.  If it had been a loss, it would have been on him. But he didn’t lose, and Rhoden got the plan across the finish line.

It wasn’t always pretty, but a win is a win.

 

The Biggest Loser: Rep. Jon Hansen (and by association, Karla Lems).   Who’s missing from the photo above? These two. This special session marked a low point of desperation for the Hansen/Lems for Governor effort. As both were serving as a participants for the prison reset committee, Hansen and his shield-maiden Karla Lems both were counted among the unanimous vote for the prison reset project.   Yet, when the time came to honor their prior vote, Hansen/Lems reneged and flip-flopped on their support, as Hansen sprung an October surprise attack in an attempt to scuttle the whole project.

The problem was that support for the prison was stronger than he gambled, and it immediately came out that the issue he was hanging his hat on – a consultant that had to be hired while an issue ran through the courts – had been known for weeks, yet he concealed that until his surprise.  But the surprise was on him. People didn’t care.

Even more importantly – because you can fake it until you make it – the coalition that Hansen used to put himself into House speakership was flat out not willing to have his back on this. And his coalition completely fell apart.  Even his close Lieutenant, House Majority Leader Scott Odenbach (who is in the picture above), who had also been part of the prison reset committee turned his back on Hansen, fragmenting Hansen’s coalition.

If Hansen spends his time contemplating this massive loss, his next action may be to try to keep the troops in line to maintain his speakership. Because if this vote was any indication of how this next session may go for the 2% Gubernatorial wannabe, that might be the next vote he’s in danger of losing.

 

Didn’t win, didn’t lose, but his people were present: Toby Doeden.  The self-aggrandizing candidate from Aberdeen who wants to spend his way to being Governor might not understand that the state has to take care of the people and buildings it is in charge of, as well as that bad people need to be locked away in a manner that keeps guards from being injured or worse, as well as from getting your pants sued off.

Why do I bring Toby Doeden up at all in this conversation? Because the small coalition of no’s on this project seemed to be less a group of the Hansen/Lemmings followers, and more a group of Doeden hangers on.

It wasn’t a big group.. but Phil Jensen, Logan Manhart, Dylan Jordan, Toby’s favorite tenant Brandei Schaefbauer, California Carley, Taffy Howard, Amber Hulse and others are not in Gubernatorial candidate Hansen’s orbit, but in Doeden’s, and they were happy to do his bidding. Even to be on the losing side.

 

This was just weird:  Former Speaker, and likely AG candidate, Steve Haugaard.  After his loss to Kristi Noem for Governor, Steve Haugaard is still continuing to try to grasp for relevancy. And in the great prison project saga, Haugaard has been inserting himself into it, and did so again in the legislative hearing, and the earlier weird video with the mattress guy.

If he wasn’t advocating for the use of robotic guards, he was doing his darnedest to go after the project, appearing in the legislative committee to detail how while he’s not been a prosecutor, his daughter has been, and he has 2 boys who are cops.  So, he as a career defense attorney knows best? He also handed out highlighted sheets with figures to try to cast aspersions on the figures used by the prison reset committee.

No one paid attention then, and it’s not going to help him run for Attorney General, a campaign he was talking about with at least one county chairman the other day in Springfield. At the end of the day, he really ended up just looking weak on crime and public safety. Not a good look for someone who wants to be considered for that role. So he can stop now.

 

Did someone say a task force? Time to call the Task Enforcer Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen! – Can we call it winning when Lt. Governor Tony Venhuizen who just chaired the Prison Project Reset task force, and was just in Pierre presiding over the Senate, will now chair the Governor’s Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force?  It’s prestigious and shows the Governor’s trust in Tony.. but does getting tasked with another task force sound like a win?

 

The Man of the Hour: Prison Project staffer Ryan Brunner – Lots of hands involved in making the plan come together.  While the Lt. Governor, Tony Venhuizen, is the front man, Ryan Brunner, the former School & Lands Commissioner who did the day to day on this for the Governor’s office, has done a lot of the thankless grunt work in shepherding the project along behind the scenes.  While it’s the Governor’s win, Ryan deserves part of the credit for making it possible. 

 

Winner: KELOland on-line – KELOland had good gavel to gavel coverage of the whole special session, which had me linked up through them for the committee hearings and the floor action instead of Public Broadcasting.  How were you watching the events of the day?

 

That’s what I caught during the events of yesterday – any thoughts of your own to add?

Attorney General Jackley’s Statement on Legislative Passage Of Prison Building Plan

 PIERRE, S.D. — “Congratulations to lawmakers who approved the building of a new prison Tuesday. This has never been about increasing incarceration. It is about keeping people safe, safeguarding the taxpayers’ money and providing inmates hope for the future with rehabilitation efforts and addiction treatment. It was an honor to be part of the prison task force that addressed this issue and to have testified before our Legislature. Thank you to legislators and Governor Rhoden for taking a step forward for South Dakota’s correctional future.”

-30-

Gov. Rhoden Signs New Prison Bill

Establishes Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today (9/23), Governor Larry Rhoden signed SB 2, which provides for a new prison in Sioux Falls.

“This new prison is a huge win for the people of South Dakota – in fact, it is the largest single public safety investment in the history of our state. I am grateful for the Legislature’s commitment to keeping our communities safe,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “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.”

Governor Rhoden also signed Executive Order 2025- 07 establishing the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force, which will determine the best path forward for expanding rehabilitation services as the state plans for the new prison.

“Here in South Dakota, we take action to protect our citizens and strengthen their futures – the same principle is true of our inmate population,” continued Governor Larry Rhoden. “This new task force will place an emphasis on reducing recidivism and getting offenders back to work.”

The Governor signed SB 2 and Executive Order 2025-07 in a signing ceremony in the Governor’s Office. You can find pictures from the signing here and here.

###

COLUMN: Time is Now to Invest in Safety

Senator Crabtree Supports New Men’s Penitentiary Plan

PIERRE–The Legislature has a fundamental duty to protect our residents. As a State Senator, I took an oath to protect our people, and today, we have the right plan in front of us to build a new men’s prison. We have an obligation to protect our residents from criminal offenders, and we have an obligation to maintain and invest in corrections and rehabilitation. We simply cannot achieve either objective if we do not have space from our inmates.

Looking at how other states deal with criminal justice and public safety, there are stark differences between places like South Dakota, California and Illinois. Other states have created a revolving door of incarceration because of overcrowding and a lack of rehabilitation programming, and some have even decriminalized criminal activity or decreased penalties. South Dakota has not done that, but if the Legislature had rejected this proposal, we would have begun our path toward devaluing public safety like California. I think that would be a mistake.

Today’s vote is at a time when we have seen President Trump crack down on crime in cities to make America safe again. It is clear that Americans, including South Dakotans, value their safety. Citizens are rising up in states where their leaders have devalued public safety. They are crying out for more arrests, more rehabilitation, and stronger penalties.

It has been proven that our 144 year old prison needs to be replaced. There simply isn’t enough room and I don’t want any excuses for violent criminals to get softer sentences or be released early. The tragic stabbing of Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina by a man who had been arrested 14 times and had 3 felony convictions is a recent example of how weak on crime policies put the public in danger.

The prison proposal presented to the Legislature by the Prison Reset Task Force earned my support because it moves our state forward by addressing a clear and present challenge, and it did so in a way that is good for our taxpayers. Those who voted to reject the proposal, voted to move us backwards by ignoring a problem, making South Dakota less safe, and creating a need to spend even more dollars for the facility needs of the state.

The proposed facility in Sioux Falls will be the best space in our state’s history to reform, educate and rehabilitate South Dakota’s inmates. I want these men–these inmates–to pay their debt to society for the crimes, but I also want them to emerge as better people. The men God envisioned them to be as good fathers and good neighbors; men who will use their skills to contribute to society as part of the workforce. We can’t do any of that without this new prison.

The voters of South Dakota send Legislators to Pierre to tackle the tough issues and make the big decisions. Today’s vote was one of those moments. For me, it was an obvious choice to invest in a new facility that law enforcement endorses while we continue to address reforms in the Department of Corrections and continue to evolve and improve how to work with inmates to become valuable members of our society when their sentences end. My parents taught me that it’s easy to do the right thing. I’m teaching my boys the same. Today’s vote was an easy vote because it’s a vote to invest in people, in safety and in an urgent need for South Dakota.

###

While most of the legislature is busy in Pierre on the taxpayer’s dime, trying to figure out whether or not they’re going to build a prison, it seems that House Majority Whip & State Representative Brandei Schaefbauer has her mind on other tasks.

Glad we can pay for her travel and per diem to go to the special legislative session to update her facebook marketplace items.

Johnson & Johnson Introduce Bill to Eliminate Government Shutdowns

 Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Representative Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.) introduced the Eliminate Shutdowns Act to ensure there will never again be a government shutdown. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is leading this bill in the Senate. Congress routinely faces a government shutdown in the event the funding process is not completed by September 30. Government shutdowns do not serve the American people, cost billions of dollars, and harm the U.S. economy.

“Shutdowns are stupid, and everyone knows it,” said Johnson. “I was sent to Congress to make sure the government serves South Dakotans – it can’t possibly serve South Dakota if it is closed. Almost every other country does not face the threat of a government shutdown. The Eliminate Shutdowns Act will keep the government open, so it can work for you, while encouraging Congress to pass new funding packages.”

The Eliminate Shutdowns Act:

• Triggers an automatic 14-day continuing resolution in the event of a lapse in appropriations.
• If Congress fails to pass appropriations or a Continuing Resolution “CR” by the end of the first 14-day auto-CR, then appropriations and funding continues for another 14 days, and so on and so on.
• The auto-CR ends if Congress passes an appropriations bill or CR.
• The bill ensures entitlements and other mandatory programs provided budget authority in the preceding appropriations Act continue to be funded at the rate necessary to maintain program levels under current law or the preceding appropriations Act.
• The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) would continue to have apportionment authority during an auto-CR period.
• During an auto-CR period, an agency head is authorized, with OMB approval, to transfer no more than five percent from one appropriation account to another appropriation account.
  • The agency head must notify the congressional appropriations committee of any transfer of funds.
  • The transfer can only be from a lower priority account to a higher priority account.

U.S. Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI) is an original cosponsor.

Click here for bill text.

###

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.

###

In the last minute fight against the prison, one of the more bizarre attempts was the show put on by the goofball Mattress-guy Chris Larson and Steve Haugaard..

You know it was going to be laughable when 3 minutes into the video in the South Dakota political equivalent of I wish I knew how to quit you, the mattress guy can’t help himself and as he gazes into Steve’s eyes declares “you should have been Governor instead of Kristi Noem, okay?”

Yeah. Not sure there’s anyone out there except the mattress guy who is saying that.

The Dakota Scout has a story this evening describing detailing a night-before attack that 2% gubernatorial wannabe Rep. Jon Hansen is making against Governor Larry Rhoden’s prison reset that will be heard in special session tomorrow as everyone comes to Pierre to try to move forward on one of the largest building projects in South Dakota state government history:

South Dakota’s Speaker of the House says he will not support a proposal for a new prison after discovering the Department of Corrections is paying a gender dysphoria consultant to assess if state inmates are transgender.

But Gov. Larry Rhoden says while he agrees with his potential rival in the 2026 GOP primary race, his hands are tied until the federal courts make a ruling on a Trump-order ban on correctional inmates transitioning to genders not aligned with their legal sex while in custody.

and..

“The State has never paid for transgender surgeries, and I don’t think we should ever spend a dime on these types of treatments,” he (Governor Rhoden) said, also referencing aggressive outreach his office has been conducting with lawmakers ahead of the special session. “We have been talking directly to candidate Hansen for more than than two weeks and are answering his questions, and I appreciate Hansen’s support for my position.”

Read the entire story here at Dakota Scout.

So, Hansen has known for weeks that the state is stuck paying for this kind of consultant until a ruling by federal courts.. yet waits until the day before the special session in a very public self-serving “October Surprise” in an attempt to drop a figurative nuclear bomb on the prison reset project that everyone – including himself – have been working on for months?  Sorry, but it’s just underlining why he has no business being in elective office.

Because instead of looking towards how to best serve the citizens of South Dakota, or, acting in a palms-up manner, he intentionally uses something he’s known for weeks to launch a fairly slimy sneak attack where everyone had been working together in good faith.

At least, everyone but Hansen.

The state’s corrections system had been stuck paying for something they didn’t want to until a court makes a decision? Well, welcome to governing where sometimes the best you can do is to pick the least worst of bad options, until you can find a better solution.  Which according to what I read was what the state was doing.

The big question is how far Hansen thinks we need to kick the can down the road, so we can cost taxpayers even more?  Because if that’s what happens, he should be proud of what he has accomplished. Because he can take the blame for every cent more of taxpayer funds that the project will cost.

Gov. Rhoden Supports Reconsideration of Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards

PIERRE, S.D. –  Today, Governor Larry Rhoden sent a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin to support the EPA’s Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards. You can find the letter here.

“Thank you for your leadership on the Reconsideration of the 2009 Endangerment Finding and Greenhouse Gas Vehicle Standards,” wrote Governor Larry Rhoden. “Your action will restore consumer choice and give the American people, including my neighbors here in South Dakota, the opportunity to purchase the best vehicle for their individual needs, regardless of its energy source.”

According to the EPA, the 2009 Endangerment Finding has been used to justify over one trillion dollars in regulations on the American people, including former President Biden’s electric vehicle mandate. If finalized, Administrator Zeldin’s proposal would repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emission regulations for motor vehicles and engines, reinstating consumer choice.

“Americans are already burdened with red tape and should not be subject to higher costs as a result of flawed regulations,” continued Governor Larry Rhoden. “This action will help keep prices down so that we can keep South Dakota strong, safe, and free.”

South Dakota has the second fewest regulations of any state in America and stands as an example that limited regulation and cutting red tape can unleash economic prosperity.

###