Kellie Wasko
State officials: Specialty parole unit helps trim fugitive parolee numbers in half
An effort by state and local agencies to capture fugitives from parole has nearly halved the number of such “absconders” tracked by the South Dakota Department of Corrections. The Absconder Apprehension Unit was formed last December and began its work in January, around six months after the launch of a collaborative group called Safe South […]
Former prison employee’s conviction is a rare occurrence in South Dakota
A 42-year old former correctional officer who pressed his thumb into the neck of a strapped-down, mentally ill prison inmate was convicted by a jury of simple assault against an inmate last month. Cases like those against Joshua S. Westenkirchner, of Harrisburg, are rare in South Dakota. Few correctional officers are charged criminally for assaulting […]
Prison workshops bleeding money despite requirement to break even
The South Dakota Department of Corrections is required to operate its prison workshops without losing money, but the DOC has long failed to live up to that expectation. Not only do some shops lose as much as $400,000 a year, but inmates aren’t spending enough of their work time filling customer orders. Inmates regularly tag […]
Budget committee endorses $400 million for new prisons
Lawmakers on the Joint Appropriations Committee unanimously approved funding Wednesday for two new prisons in South Dakota. The first is a new women’s prison for Rapid City, a 300-bed facility that would become the second female prison in the state. The Department of Corrections spent $20 million on land for the prison on the eastern […]
Corrections secretary: Millions for prisons will ease overcrowding, boost security
PIERRE – In 2022, some inmates at the overcrowded women’s prison in Pierre were bunked in the gym, which closed the gym for every inmate living there. The gym is open again, lawmakers learned Monday, but now a classroom is closed because it’s filled with overflow inmates. Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko offered several […]