Lawmaker who missed prison vote says he’s a yes

PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — The South Dakota lawmaker who was excused on Friday plans to be a yes on Monday when the state House of Representatives reconsiders whether to transfer $148 million into the incarceration construction fund.

The stripped-down version of House Bill 1025 failed 34-35. Republican Rep. Tim Reisch told KELOLAND News on Sunday that he plans to vote yes. That however would mean a 35-35 tie and a second defeat, assuming that no one else switches sides.

Reisch, a former Cabinet secretary for the state Department of Corrections and a former Miner County sheriff, said he would have voted yes on Friday had he been at the Capitol.

Asked whether the bill’s defeat surprised him, Reisch said, “Disappointed would be a better word. I am very concerned that those millions of dollars will be used elsewhere, and we won’t have enough money to pay for the prison construction when the time comes.”

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The guaranteed maximum price of $825 million for the new 1,500-bed men’s prison proposed in Lincoln County expires on March 31. At its first committee hearing, Reisch had voted for HB 1025 in its original form, which would have provided the final $182 million needed and authorized construction to start.

Asked whether the amendment on Friday to remove the authorization and shift only $140 million signaled that the Lincoln County site shouldn’t continue to be considered, Reisch answered, “I hope not. That site is very suitable for the prison construction, if not this time around, at some point in the future.”

The Senate State Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing for Monday morning on two bills from Republican Sen. Kevin Jensen, who lives in Lincoln County. One calls for establishing an incarceration task force that would issue recommendations by December 1, 2025. The other would prohibit spending for any other prison construction project that doesn’t follow the recommendations.

Reisch said it appears that the Legislature now will take another year to study the issue of a new men’s prison.

“I don’t see a pathway that would authorize prison construction to be approved this year,” Reisch said. “It is possible to retire the 144-year-old penitentiary building (in Sioux Falls) without following the construction plan put forth by the DOC. That will require that more money be spent on design and engineering.

“I don’t know how much of the money the legislature previously authorized for land purchase and engineering remains,” Reisch added. “If we spend the rest of the year coming up with alternate plans, but don’t have sufficient funds allocated to draw up the plans to the level required for taking bids, we will push construction back two years, instead of just one.  A billion dollars will never be enough regardless of what the construction plan ends up being.”