Kellie Wasko

The minimum security center of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, pictured on Feb. 16, 2023. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

State officials: Specialty parole unit helps trim fugitive parolee numbers in half

BY: - September 11, 2023

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 […]

The South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, as seen on Jan. 9, 2023. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Former prison employee’s conviction is a rare occurrence in South Dakota

BY: - September 2, 2023

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 […]

An inmate at the Women's Prison in Pierre works on a block of metal during a precision machining class in 2022. The program is a partnership between the state Department of Corrections, state Department of Labor and Regulations and state technical colleges.

Prison workshops bleeding money despite requirement to break even

BY: - May 30, 2023

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 […]

The South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, as seen on Jan. 9, 2023. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Budget committee endorses $400 million for new prisons

BY: - February 22, 2023

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 […]

A sign for the Solem Public Safety Center in Pierre. The center is the home of the South Dakota Department of Corrections administrative offices, as well as the South Dakota Women's Prison. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Corrections secretary: Millions for prisons will ease overcrowding, boost security

BY: - January 30, 2023

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 […]