Lincoln County commissioners are signaling support for a local landowner group in their lawsuit against the state over the location of a proposed new men’s prison.
The prison will replace the state penitentiary in nearby Sioux Falls, which the state says is no longer usable.
The state wants to construct a 1,500 bed prison for men in rural Lincoln County, near Sioux Falls.
The Neighbors Opposed to Prison Expansion, or NOPE, said the state should comply with Lincoln County planning and zoning ordinances.
Tiffani Landeen is the Chair of the Lincoln County Commission. She said choosing to support NOPE could negatively affect any action the county takes on the prison in the future.
“I’m not happy about what the state did either. But, if at some point this comes back in front of us, I think if we had taken a position one way or the other that that may through another cog or wrench into our abilities. So, I’m not going to be supporting this today for that reason,” said Landeen.
Commissioner Joel Arends disagrees. He voted in favor of the resolution and said the issues are separate enough to support those opposed to the proposed prison site.
“There is no pending application. So, there is no application to opine on, and number two, I’ll just make it very clear here, I made it clear at the meeting, that we will be reserving, at least I will, be reserving comment on the site selection that was made by the state in order to prevent any kind of disqualification motion from the state,” said Arends.
Lincoln County Commissioners voted three to one to support NOPE in their lawsuit.
Governor Kristi Noem is proposing an additional $228 million in one-time dollars to fund construction for the new men’s prison.
Noem and the Republican-controlled state legislature have set aside more than $650 million during the last three legislative sessions for new prison constructions near Sioux Falls and in Rapid City.
The Department of Corrections declined to comment on ongoing litigation.
