Why It Matters
South Dakota’s accelerating effort to detain parolees accused of violations is pushing the state to negotiate above-standard contracts with county jails, raising costs for taxpayers while testing the capacity of local detention facilities. The arrangement reflects broader pressure on the state’s correctional system following a high-profile incident involving a parolee and a law enforcement officer.
What Happened
The South Dakota Department of Corrections entered into a new contract with Minnehaha County to house parolees held on alleged violations. County commissioners approved the agreement Tuesday.
The contract follows a parole enforcement push announced by Governor Larry Rhoden in late April, itself a response to an incident in which a parolee allegedly shot and wounded a Sioux Falls police officer. As part of that announcement, Rhoden also said the state would hire five additional parole agents to bolster oversight.
To accommodate the influx of detainees, Minnehaha County reopened the fourth floor of its jail. As of the time the contract was approved, 65 parolees were being held at county facilities across the state on parole holds, with Pennington County also housing detainees under a separate state agreement.
By the Numbers
The tiered payment structure in the Minnehaha County contract differs meaningfully from the standard rate set by state law. The state will pay $125 per day for each of the first 20 parolees housed at the facility — above the standard $95-per-day room-and-board rate that applies to local jails statewide. For parolees 21 through 60, the rate reverts to the standard $95 per day. However, for any parolee beyond the 60th, the state will pay a premium rate of $200 per day — more than double the baseline.
The contract runs through July 24. The state’s prison population grew by nearly 200 inmates in May alone, while the number of individuals on active parole dropped by 181 during the same period, indicating a significant shift in the correctional population driven by the enforcement effort.
Local Officials Weigh In
Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jeff Gromer was candid about the jail’s constraints, noting that the facility is already near capacity. “Quite honestly, our jail’s already pretty full, and we don’t want to hold more than 60 of them,” Gromer said.
Commissioner Joe Kippley described the contract as a practical, near-term arrangement rather than a lasting solution, saying the state had found a workable short-term fix. “That’s kind of a baby step,” he said.
Zoom Out
South Dakota’s situation reflects a pattern seen in several states where parole enforcement surges can rapidly outpace available bed space in state-run facilities, forcing corrections departments to rely on county jails at negotiated rates. The financial pressure of tiered, premium-rate contracts can accumulate quickly when populations exceed standard thresholds — a dynamic the $200-per-day rate above 60 detainees is designed to address, at least in part by discouraging overuse of any single facility.
South Dakota is also expecting relief on the women’s incarceration side, with a new women’s prison in Rapid City anticipated to open this summer. That addition could ease some of the system-wide capacity strain, though the immediate focus remains on parolee detention driven by the spring crackdown. For more on recent South Dakota policy developments, see how new state laws will reduce property taxes for homeowners.
What’s Next
The current Minnehaha County contract is a short-term measure set to expire in late July. State officials will likely need to negotiate follow-on agreements or identify additional bed space as the enforcement initiative continues. The anticipated opening of the Rapid City women’s facility this summer may shift some population dynamics, but officials have not indicated a timeline for winding down the parole hold surge. The Department of Corrections has not publicly outlined a longer-term capacity plan beyond the current contracts and the pending facility opening.