There are 241 individuals serving time in South Dakota prisons whose highest crime is ingestion of a controlled substance.
South Dakota is the only state in the nation with felony level ingestion.
The state is looking to spend hundreds of millions on two new prisons. Officials say the prisons are overcrowded, which makes it difficult to hold drug counselling and treatment.
During an appropriations hearing Tuesday, when asked about how to reduce the prison population, Secretary of Corrections Kellie Wasko pointed to the state’s ingestion law.
“I will tell you I did an assessment about two months ago and at that time there were 241 people whose highest crime was ingestion,” Wasko said. “Out of 241 people, five were serving the minimum, the rest were serving the maximum, which is five years.”
Ingestion of a controlled substance is a felony with mandatory prison time.
The average cost to the state to house an adult offender in South Dakota prisons is $30,000 a year. The 241 inmates in prison for ingestion are costing the state roughly $7.2 million dollars.
Efforts to change the state’s ingestion law have stalled.
South Dakota has more than double the number of inmates as North Dakota. Wasko said that’s due in part to differences in each state’s sentencing structure. Wasko said North Dakota has a robust probation program and pre-sentencing programs that South Dakota does not have.
Wasko said North Dakota spends about $75 million more on corrections than South Dakota, with a larger staff-to-inmate ratio.
Some lawmakers say the state may need to shift its corrections policy in the future.
Republican Rep. Mike Derby is co-chair of the appropriations committee. He said North Dakota is investing in treatment versus bricks and mortar.
“Maybe at some point in time it’s not too late to revisit this,” Derby said. “I know we’re all doing a lot of work on this, I get it. In the business world, if I had this information I’d be making different decisions.”
Officials expect to know the full price for a 1,500 bed men’s prison near Sioux Falls by mid-November. Construction is expected to take 3.5 years. The state has already broken ground on a $95.5 million, 288 bed women’s prison in Rapid City.
