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| Panel Studies Use of S.D. Prison Space |
| By Rapid City Journal |
| Published: 08/06/2003 |
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On Monday, Rounds told about 40 members he appointed to a prison-population work group to ask tough questions about the way South Dakota deals with its criminals. 'It's our responsibility,' Rounds said, referring to the state's job of running prisons. 'You have to protect society from those who would harm society.' But Rounds told the group of lawmakers, law enforcement officers, judges and community leaders that he wants to use the prisons to rehabilitate criminals as much as to punish them. 'I only want to see them once,' Rounds said of inmates. 'It's time to take a comprehensive look at what's working and what's not working. I need you to come up with what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong.' The work group met for the first time July 28. In the 1990s, South Dakota's population grew 8.5 percent, and the state's prison population grew almost 97 percent, state Corrections Secretary Tim Reisch told the group. 'That's not out of line with national statistics,' Reisch said. 'We're not alone.' As South Dakota's prison population soars along with the rest of the country's, Rounds said the state must examine alternative sentencing and whether it is putting enough money and effort into crime prevention. At the fore of crime prevention is drug and alcohol treatment, he said. Currently, 85 percent of inmates are found to be dependent on drugs or alcohol, the governor said. Supreme Court Chief Justice David Gilbertson told Rounds that he could not recall a felony case, either as a lawyer or as a judge, where the crime wasn't committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs or committed in an effort to get money for alcohol or drugs. 'What a message that sends,' Rounds said. Besides the kinds of sentences, Rounds asked the group to look at the length of prison sentences in South Dakota. Do judges have the right amount of flexibility, he asked. And, are the sentences required by state law the correct lengths? 'Many offenders absolutely need to be imprisoned,' Rounds said. 'But are we using our prison space wisely?' If the workgroup can find ways to ease the state's prison population - now a bit more than 3,000 - it could prevent another round of prison building. At current growth rates, the state will again fill its growing number of prison cells by 2010, Reisch said. With 23 percent of South Dakota prisoners coming from Pennington County, the county leads the state in the number of inmates sent to the penitentiary system, headquartered in Sioux Falls. Minnehaha County, the state's largest in population, sends 20 percent of the inmates, and Brown County, home to Aberdeen, sends 4 percent. The top ranking is one Pennington County has claimed for as long as local officials can remember. Pennington County Sheriff Don Holloway, a member of the governor's work group, does not know why the county leads in prison inmates when it is second in population. 'Pennington County has always been high. I think if you look at Department of Corrections historical records, you'd see it's been true,' Holloway said. 'Some crime we're experiencing is transient crime.' Because Rapid City is a shopping center for much of western South Dakota, Holloway said he believes local law enforcement officers contend with a mix of local residents and people from elsewhere. At the same time, the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally, now less than a week away, has little impact on Pennington County's prison statistics, Holloway said. Most rally arrests do not result in a prison sentence, he said. Seventh Circuit Judge Merton Tice Jr. of Rapid City said he, too, lacks any theories about why Pennington County holds first place in prison population. 'I see them one on one, so I don't have any comparison. I only see it from one judge's point of view,' Tice said. Tice noted Rapid City's recent notoriety of being named rape capital of the nation, a title he said probably isn't deserved. But he said if Pennington County has a rate of violent crime that is higher than average, it stands to reason that judges would sentence people to more prison time. In addition to felons who get sentenced to the penitentiary, Holloway said he believes Pennington County houses more felons than does the Minnehaha County jail in Sioux Falls. The work group will continue to meet today as three subcommittees dealing with sentencing, incarceration and aftercare/community corrections. The group will continue meeting indefinitely until it delivers recommendations to the governor and the Legislature, Rounds said |
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