Corrections Secretary tells legislative task force the State Women’s Prison facilities in Pierre are grossly understaffed and over crowded

The South Dakota Legislature’s Incarceration Construction Fund Task Force held its first meeting yesterday (July 26, 2022) in Pierre.

Department of Corrections Secretary Kellie Wasko provided an overview of each of the facilities in the state’s prison system. She says the Women’s Prison in Pierre is over crowded and understaffed.

Wasko says Unit E on the women’s prison campus is especially concerning.

Wasko, who has been the head of the state’s corrections facilities for about four months now, says the situation at the Pierre Minimum Center is alarming.

Wasko says the conditions at the women’s prison facilities are unsafe.

District 24 Representative Will Mortenson of Pierre and Sixth Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Bobbi Rank (Gregory, Haakon, Hughes, Hyde, Jones, Lyman, Stanley, Sully, Todd, Tripp, Bennett, Jackson, Mellette and Potter counties) are both members of this task force.

The group’s next meeting is Aug. 31, 2022.