South Dakota Selects Site for New Men’s Prison

320 acres of land in rural Lincoln County will soon be transformed into a new South Dakota men's prison.

The South Dakota Department of Corrections has announced details of an agreement to purchase two 160-acre parcels of land that is currently owned by the state's Office of School and Public Lands.

Officials say the new prison will eventually replace much of the current State Penitentiary, which has been in Sioux Falls since 1881.

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The land is located on the western side of the intersection of 477th Avenue and 278th Street, which is roughly midway between Harrisburg (8 miles to the northwest) and Canton (8 miles to the southeast).

The purchase is part of the South Dakota Legislature's Incarceration Construction Fund, which was established in the 2022 session and then enacted into law with HB1017 during the 2023 session. It appropriated $52 million to purchase land and contract for architectural services, engineering services, and other required services to build a new men's prison.

That legislation also appropriated an additional $270.7 million for the construction of the facility.

There is no official timetable for the construction of the new facility.