State Enters Purchase Agreement for New Prison Land at Benson Rd. Site
Agreement Contingent on Approval by Legislature
PIERRE, S.D. – Today, Governor Larry Rhoden announced that the State of South Dakota has entered into a purchase agreement that grants the State the option to purchase land at the Benson Road site. This agreement represents over $10 million savings on what was estimated by the prison task force.
“South Dakota needs a new prison to keep our people safe, and we are moving forward with delivering a proposal that prioritizes safety and conservative fiscal stewardship,” said Governor Larry Rhoden. “We appreciate the Legislature’s continued attention to this project, and we are excited to deliver this as efficiently as possible for South Dakota taxpayers.”
The land in question is approximately 148 acres in northeast Sioux Falls along Benson Road (the “Benson Road site”). The State of South Dakota will only complete the purchase if approval to acquire the site is granted by the South Dakota Legislature.
If the purchase of the Benson Road site is approved by the Legislature on September 23, 2025, the Lincoln County site would no longer be owned by the State. As private property, any agricultural use or development of this land would be subject to county zoning.
“Residents of Lincoln County should be excited about the opportunity to regain control over what happens to that land,” said Sen. Ernie Otten (R-Lincoln County), who served on the prison task force. “I look forward to working with my fellow legislators to get this project across the finish line.”
The Benson Road site will represent millions of dollars in savings on utility development costs compared to the Lincoln County land, as there will be no need for a water tower, long sewer line, or other expenses. The purchase of the new Benson Road site also represents a more-than $10 million savings on the previous estimate by the prison task force. The purchase price is to be paid as follows:
- Cash payment of $12.5 million dollars for the Benson Road site, plus
- Exchange of the previously proposed Lincoln County land with an estimated agricultural value of $4.5 million.
You can find a full handout depicting the Benson Road site here.
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How much money was already spent on the Lincoln county site? NOPE should reimburse the state.
$52 million lost at the Lincoln site. Outrageous.
“Conservative fiscal stewardship”
Is an oxymoron
I’d have a hard time voting for the new site over that amount of money being thrown away.
Ill be interested to hear the stretch on how the money isn’t actually gone down the drain.
I’d assume a good story will need to he weaved in order to get some to move on.
This is also in Hansen and Lems’ hands to get 46 votes.
Enough to cover school lunches for 60 years.
People feed their own kids.
If you are serious about that then we as a state should only get what we pay the federal government. Taxpayers in other states like Minnesota should no longer be subsidizing South Dakota’s annual budget unless there is a natural disaster. It is not fair to the taxpayers of those states. We would see fiscal priorities change and so will the pressure to focus on real issues and accountability.
They should buy our school kids some shoes, too.
yes we are serious about that: School lunch money is a form of child support. Free and reduced price meals are available for the families who qualify. Taxpayers should not have to pucknup the tab for the families which can afford to pay
We can spend a billion on a prison but we can’t spend the money on school lunches….
Our priorities are messed up.
yes parents who don’t want to feed their own children have their priorities messed up.
Most of us don’t have that problem
Yes. Them who need it can get free lunch. Fix it so the aren’t ashamed but no free lunch for all.
The crybaby MAGA snowflakes got their way.
I don’t question we need a new prison just the cost
Hard to say you “saved” 10 million dollars when we burned 50 million at the Lincoln County site. Another example of weak leadership from the Rhoden administration. Is this how the next 8 years would be? Rhoden keeling over every time a few loud voices say mean things about him? Count me out.
Operation Can’t Get Shit Done. But let’s have a bunch of performative press conferences and fly around on the state plane.
Amen.
Rhoden did not start this so don’t blame him. He created the task force to study the issue when the NOPE group did not want it in their area. The votes weren’t there to go forward in Lincoln County so what did you want him to do?
He needed ONE more vote in the house this year. One. You think Noem wouldn’t have bullied her way into making that happen?
Sioux Falls needs a landfill on the East Side, perfect use for the site.
Sioux Falls is a land fill
This was handled very poorly by the former governor. She wanted that stinky pork plant located in city limits and the prison built way out of town, against the wishes of local residents. It made no sense.
Don’t disagree that she mismanaged it. However re: the stinky pork plant, would been nice to find a suitable location for that plant. The current plant downtown needs to go. I know it’s taboo to talk about but if downtown is going to grow, that plant needs to be moved to someplace else. Lots of people won’t live downtown with the smell permeating everything about half the time.
Agree. Moving the current pork plant to a more suitable and new location would be great. The downtown area could do without both the prison and the processing plant. The falls area is an amazing asset.
The Lincoln County site would be fabulous for the new pork plant.
That’s a great idea. Out in the middle of nowhere, hard surfaced roads.
Have prisoners work there.
There are all kinds of industries that could be be adjacent to the new prison that would teach job skills and specialties where they could earn an income while there, fill a need and transition them into the workforce after release. A new and larger Governor’s house manufacturing facility, hazardous waste including radiological reprocessing and remediation with teams sent out off site besides in house. Which Trump appointee stated with reshoring manufacturing of smart phones they will build factories and tighten screws? A call center rather than offshoring. An EV battery recycling facility.
A regional humane society facility staffed by residents of the correctional facility is a great idea which could be therapeutic too. Future Vet techs or Vets?
Kristi will always be an idiot
Land near Edgemont, SD near the old mining sites would be real cheap. Why not there? If they build it they will come.
incarceration and rehabilitation need to occur close to home. how about building an “igloo auschwitz” near edgemont? that seems to be in line with the new trend in forced remote detention.
There isn’t enough clean reliable water there.
yeah, it’s better to build at a gator infested swamp. noted. you’re really good at this kind of thing.
So the best site was the old site?
Yes!!
Maybe a dumb question, but should Smithfield be moved to the Benson Road site or a similar site and the prison stay in Lincoln County. Seems like the Smithfield workforce needs a location in SF due to transportation while the potential prison workforce matches better with Lincoln County in terms of proximity and transportation. Could we solve two issues more efficiently than one and one?
When I worked at Morrell’s a lot of prisoners were there on work release. The proximity of the plant to the prison was helpful, we kidded them about how they just rolled downhill to work (most of them were nice guys who had done really stupid shit while drunk and we did not consider them dangerous.)
Building a processing plant near the new prison is a very good idea.
Having them near the Humane Society and the Veterans’Cemetery would provide other employment opportunities for inmates on work release.
Heck! They could build that new nuclear power plant right next to it. Once trained those are good paying Union jobs when released or they could be engineers with additional schooling.
Blame Lemming and Eschenbama.
Appreciate the vision of the anti prison crowd to keep the prison in SF so Smithfield can move to the Lincoln County site. Kudos to Lems and Jensen for their leadership.
explain why the state would no longer own the Lincoln County site?
Why not let the state keep it and do what they want with it?
Take it off the county tax rolls. Do nothing with it. Eventually it will become an encampment for homeless junkies