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Senate rejects bill to form expanded incarceration task force after heated debate
Summary
Senate Bill 124, to create a broad incarceration task force with named criminal‑justice stakeholders, failed on final passage by 15 yeas to 20 nays.
Senate Bill 124, a bill to create an incarceration task force to study incarceration capacity, alternative sites and approaches to recidivism, failed on a final roll-call vote in the South Dakota Senate. The final tally was 15 yeas and 20 nays.
Senator Jensen, the bill’s prime sponsor, proposed an amended version (124C) that specified membership for the task force — including law enforcement, a prosecutor, defense counsel, a judge, probation and parole representatives, corrections staff, a former incarcerated person, mental health and addiction professionals, clergy, the Secretary of Corrections and a governor’s representative. Jensen said the purpose was to preserve a legislative path forward and to provide oversight after construction costs and planning had exploded.
Opponents raised objections on several grounds. Senator Divert said the bill’s language about studying “alternative sites” could narrow the scope of the review and sought removal of the word “alternative.” Senator Grove and others argued the task force risked re-litigating prior planning rather than addressing sentencing policy; Grove said even an expensive new facility could be over capacity within a few years and suggested the group should examine sentencing practices and drivers of population growth in confinement.
Several senators also questioned whether the Department of Corrections would engage. Senator Wheeler said past task forces succeeded only when the executive branch participated; he argued that without buy‑in from the DOC and the governor’s office, the group would likely produce little effect. Jensen acknowledged the department had been unwilling to discuss options beyond its proposal but said the task force was a legislative responsibility and could review broader corrections policy, including recidivism and sentencing.
After closing debate, the secretary recorded 15 yeas and 20 nays and the president declared the bill lost. The debate included a floor amendment process (124A then 124C) that narrowed membership to the listed professions and a clause clarifying appointment of the public defender representative.
