In regard to whether the state needs a new penitentiary, the head of South Dakota’s prison system says “we don’t have an option.”
A governor-appointed task force unanimously decided the 144-year-old building needed to go. However, they recommended a $650 million prison, well below any of the bids offered. That means something in the project needs to change somehow.
Kellie Wasko is the Secretary of the Department of Corrections, and she’s “optimistic” about something getting done. However, she said after talking to the state’s Construction Manager at Risk the priorities need to be straight.
“I think what we need to really focus on is we cannot slack because of the security level of this facility. Our housing units need to be secure. I’ve said that from day one: the type of inmates we need to house in the 1,200-bed section are secure beds,” Wasko said. “They are concrete and steel, and I don’t think we slack there. But you know what? I think we look at opportunities of our other buildings. Are there other options for us that can get us closer to that $650 million? And the answer is, we don’t have option. We need this facility, and we want this facility.”
Despite the Project Prison Reset Task Force’s recommendation, some legislators worry if a new prison is needed at all.
Wasko disagreed, saying the prison is in rough shape.
“The only thing left for it to do is fall over,” Wasko said.
Wasko said one of the prime issues with the current pen is its design. It follows a linear, or vertical, design. She said that creates problems for the correctional staff.
“If the staff want to take a mail to the inmates or if they have to deliver something to their cell, they have to go all straight up, there’s no elevators, it’s all steps. The trays, their meal trays get carried up all five flights by our step,” Wasko said. “The medication boxes to deliver meds cell to cell, they all get carried up those stairs. And God forbid that there is an incident or an injury or an illness on the 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd tiers, they have to carry those offenders down those stairwells on those stairwells on those backboards or gurneys.”
The design also inhibits the air conditioning because Wasko said it wasn’t created “for the design of linear cells.” She said a horizontal design is both safer for the staff and gives inmates more freedom to do things. That’s because prison officers are able to see inmates more broadly, as opposed to having to be on the same floor to monitor.
Wasko said in a new prison there’s one major factor she’d like to see changed in how the DOC could operate a penitentiary, noting the benefits of a modern 2025 facility.
“When you go into that institution you have dedicated recreation staff that that’s what they do. They work in recreation; they go in in the morning. You have inmates that work food service in the morning, and then they get off. And then they go to the gym and then they go back to their cellhouse,” Wasko said. And they take a shower, because the shower is in their cellhouse and it’s not in the basement where they have to have controlled movement. And then they go back to their cell and read a book for awhile and then they go to dinner. And then in the evening they go around and walk the track. That’s because those areas of the facility are open because they’re staffed. We don’t have that in our current physical plant.”
She said with the state pen’s linear design, they can’t have offenders do some things like shower freely and go to recreate when they want because all travel must be organized to keep the inmates separate through tunnels and floor levels.
Another issue with the current penitentiary is the cells themselves. Current cells are about 56 square feet total, and house two offenders in each. The American Correctional Association recommends 35 square feet of unencumbered space per inmate. Wasko said the average cell per industry standards is 80 square feet.
The structure of the cell doors themselves is also an issue, Wasko says.
“I do not like at all the bars on the doors, and that every staff member that walks by can be fluid assaulted. I’ve never seen so many fluid assaults as what I’ve seen here at the South Dakota state penitentiary,” Wasko said. “There’s no barrier between our staff and the offenders. You know, if they’re on the fifth tier and they’re hot and they’ve been in their cells and they don’t have programs to go to that day or they don’t have a visit that day and they’re agitated, they’re going to act out. So, we’ve taken somebody who already has a behavior issue, already has a criminality factor, and we’ve put them into an environment that’s not very proactive for changing behavior or changing mood and we expect them not to be violent.”
In a new facility, she said ideally there would be doors, depending on the security level, with solid steel doors, with a window and food and cuffing ports. She said you don’t typically see the barred doors anymore.
