parole absconders

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 […]

Missing persons posters for Robert "Berta" Enoch, who died shortly after being arrested on April 3, 2023. (Submitted photos)

Family left with questions after man dies in custody of rural sheriff’s office

BY: - April 12, 2023

State investigators are reviewing the death of a man shortly after his arrest on April 3 by Charles Mix County sheriff’s deputies. Friends of 35-year-old Robert Dennis “Berta” Enoch have a host of questions about how someone who’d expressed a desire to get well and had secured a place at a treatment center just days […]

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)

Parole officers create specialty unit to target parolees in hiding

BY: - February 20, 2023

Until recently, most parole officers in South Dakota managed a caseload that included a mix of low- and high-risk offenders and “absconders,” the term given to parolees who lose touch with their parole officers. A few months ago, however, the Department of Corrections reshuffled those caseloads to create an Absconder Apprehension Unit, whose officers track […]