The cost of land for a proposed prison site in Mitchell is now nearly double its original price tag.
Landowner James River Farms increased its asking price from $18,000 to $35,000 per acre.
Mike Brunner is the Senior Policy Advisor and Director of Legislative Relations for the governor. He said increases like this one are common.
“Of all the 12 sites that initially came in, several of them updated their total after the fact. That’s not an unusual development in this case. But we’re working on acquiring the entire site. The land in Lincoln County was $25,000 an acre, and when you’re talking about land that converts to commercial development and has the utilities there, there’s a lot of factors to consider," Brunner said. "But the state hasn’t spent any money on this particular location yet, and I don’t think we will without further direction from the committee and eventually from the Legislature."
The Project Prison Reset Task Force is deciding between sties in Mitchell, Worthing, Sioux Falls and Springfield.
The task force is scheduled to meet July 8 where they will hear different project options for those four sites.
