Prison

The South Dakota Capitol Rotunda. (Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight)

Senate panel advances bill to shield jail inmate records from open records requests

BY: - January 17, 2023

A bill that would close the disciplinary records of jail inmates from public view advanced out of the state Senate Judiciary Committee on a 6-1 vote Tuesday morning.  Senate Bill 53 closes what its sponsor calls a “loophole” in South Dakota’s open records law. The current law closes disciplinary records for inmates, but defines “inmate” […]

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem speaks to supporters on Nov. 7, 2022, in Rapid City. (Kevin Eilbeck for South Dakota Searchlight)

Noem goes against board, victims’ families and review process to reduce prison sentences

BY: - December 30, 2022

When Gov. Kristi Noem reduced seven prisoners’ sentences recently, she overruled the Board of Pardons and Paroles in one case, went against some victims’ family members she hadn’t contacted, and may have violated her own executive order. The governor issued the sentence reductions, called “commutations,” on Christmas Eve. A news release said all seven people […]