At least 40 years of talk, study on prison

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) -- Back in 1984, state lawmakers knew there were problems in the state prison in Sioux Falls.

On May 31, 1984, District Court Judge Donald Porter ruled that prison conditions at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls violated the Eighth Amendment and the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

The ruling came as then Gov. Bill Janklow was developing a plan to convert a closed university campus in Springfield to a minimum security prison to ease overcrowding in Sioux Falls. The solution to problems in Sioux Falls was to convert a former university in Springfield to a minimum security prison.

Roughly 40 years later, the South Dakota Legislature will consider a new men's prison to replace the more than 100-year-old fa