Sioux Falls prison appropriation takes effect after Gov. Rhoden signs bill into law

PIERRE — The bill to pay for Sioux Falls' new men's prison is now law.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden on Sept. 23 signed Senate Bill 2, which app ropriates $650 million to the state Department of Corrections for both the purchase of the land and for the construction of 1,500-bed men's prison facility in northeast Sioux Falls, transfers more than $78 million in state funds to a prison construction fund, and exchanges a Lincoln County parcel owned by the state — the original prison site backed by the state Department of Corrections — to the sellers of the property.

Because the bill includes an emergency clause to allow its immediate enactment instead of taking effect on July 1 like most bills, SB 2 was made law upon Rhoden's signature.

The South Dakota House of Representatives voted S