South Dakota State Penitentiary

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

State to pay inmate in federal excessive force lawsuit

BY: - September 26, 2023

The state of South Dakota will pay $6,000 to an inmate who represented himself in a lawsuit over his assault by a correctional officer in 2022. The settlement, filed this week in federal court, comes on the heels of a state-level trial at which a jury convicted the officer of simple assault. Shawn Albrecht was […]

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 […]

Wayne Edmonds Jr. testifies before the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles on March 15, 2023, at the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

Kidnapper, attempted rapist vows to walk free without parole supervision

BY: - March 18, 2023

SIOUX FALLS — An inmate who abducted and tried to rape a 12-year-old Wasta girl in 1984 told the Board of Pardons and Paroles this week that he’d rather walk free in four years than ask for mercy and supervised release again. Wayne Edmonds Jr., 62, was sentenced to 75 years for kidnapping and seven […]

Gov. Kristi Noem speaks at the Calvin Coolidge Foundation conference at the Library of Congress on Feb. 17, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Legislative Roundup: Noem says no three times, but leaves big questions unanswered

BY: and - March 10, 2023

Gov. Kristi Noem has not vetoed the Legislature’s “historic” sales tax cut this week – which lawmakers passed Thursday in spite of her opposition – but she did flex her veto power. Noem issued her first veto on March 2, using a cattle “VETO” brand on a bill that would have allowed local business improvement […]

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 […]

Images from a cost estimate for Senate Bill 146, which would restrict parole for violent offenders in South Dakota.

Truth in sentencing cost: $21.5 million

BY: - February 8, 2023

Lawmakers sent a bill to the governor Friday that would repeal mandatory prison-jail cost estimates, but not before one of the last such estimates landed in their laps with a $21.5 million thud. The House and Senate have both approved a bill to repeal a rule that requires a prison-jail cost impact statement for any […]

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 […]