ICE TAKES CUSTODY OF INMATES IN THE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE PENITENTIARY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Ten inmates identified as being in the country illegally will be transferred from South Dakota prison custody to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, Gov. Larry Rhoden announced Wednesday.
The South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles approved the parole transfers as part of Operation: Prairie Thunder, a state initiative aimed at targeting crime and supporting federal immigration enforcement.
“South Dakota taxpayers should not have to foot the bill for illegal alien criminals,” Rhoden said. “This cooperation between DOC and ICE is uncharted and takes a bit of extra coordination, so I appreciate the Parole Board’s swift action to get illegal alien criminals out of our custody and out of our country. I trust President Trump, Secretary Noem, and the hard-working law enforcement agents of Border Patrol and ICE to keep these individuals from returning to our communities.”
According to the governor’s office, the inmates were selected based on immigration status, low-risk classification, and proximity to completing their sentences. Each case was reviewed by the parole board under state law.
The inmates include:
Jose Sanchez, Mexico — possession of controlled substances;
Yahia Hassan, Sudan — possession of controlled substances, burglary, receiving/transferring stolen vehicle;
Patrick Morris, Liberia — grand theft, burglary;
Dustin Buffalo, Canada — reckless burning, aggravated assault;
Mohammed Kromah, Liberia — aggravated assault;
Victor Pacheco, Mexico — aggravated assault, possession of a weapon in jail;
Deng Ayom, Sudan — discharge of firearm at an occupied structure;
Mustafe Hamud, Somalia — distribution of controlled substances;
Miguel Caveda Perez, Cuba — fourth-degree rape;
Bereket Mekonnen, Ethiopia — burglary, possession of controlled substances, receiving/transferring stolen vehicle.
Rhoden said the transfers follow his earlier letter of intent to establish a 287(g) agreement between the Department of Corrections and ICE, allowing for expanded cooperation under the Jail Enforcement Model.
Operation: Prairie Thunder includes two initiatives: a targeted anti-crime effort in the Sioux Falls area focusing on drug interdiction, gang activity, parole absconders, and public safety, and a partnership with ICE to remove individuals in the country illegally who have committed crimes.
The South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Division of Criminal Investigation have also joined the 287(g) program under the Task Force Model, meaning they can be used to assist ICE agents as force multipliers. Hughes and Minnehaha county sheriff’s offices are participating in the Jail Enforcement Model.
They are among nearly 900 local agencies nationwide that have agreed to partner with the federal government on immigration enforcement.
GOVERNMENT JUSTICE CLAIMS OF INEFFECTIVENESS LEAD TO ONE SOUTH DAKOTA LEGAL AID GROUP SEEKING ASSISTANCE FROM ANOTHER FOR FUNDING
SIOUX FALLS, SD (Makenzie Huber /-South Dakota Searchlight) – A nonprofit organization providing legal aid for low-income South Dakotans is attempting to take over the federal funding and territory of a similar organization, following accusations of the latter group’s ineffectiveness.
Lea Wroblewski, executive director for East River Legal Services, informed the state’s Commission on Equal Access to Our Courts during its July meeting that her organization will compete for federal grant funding currently awarded to Dakota Plains Legal Services.
She said some organizations working with low-income, vulnerable communities in Dakota Plains’ jurisdiction are unfamiliar with the nonprofit. She added that East River has “not been able to successfully refer a single housing case” to Dakota Plains in her three years on the job.
“In our experience, and with community partners and clients, these services are not being offered,” Wroblewski said.
After hearing about those concerns, the state commission chose to withhold $56,000 of state funding from Dakota Plains until at least the December commission meeting, when the commission could consider the matter again.
The structure of legal aid in SD
South Dakota’s legal aid landscape is split between East River Legal Services on the east side of the state, and Dakota Plains Legal Services providing aid to the western half as well as to Native Americans on and off tribal lands across the state. The nonprofits help with legal aid for civil cases, including housing and evictions, applying for protection orders, and family law. Dakota Plains also takes on criminal cases when appointed by a court.
A third organization, South Dakota Access to Justice, formed by the State Bar to provide pro bono legal work, supplements legal services provided by the two programs when there are an excess of cases, and provides a reduced fee program for people who don’t qualify for free services. The commission awards state grants to the organizations to improve access to the justice system.
The national Legal Services Corporation awards federal funding. Dakota Plains received $1.4 million this year from the corporation for its service to Native Americans statewide and an additional $576,919 for its service to the western part of the state. East River Legal Service received $664,495 from the corporation for its services to the eastern part of the state.
Lori Stanford, deputy director of Dakota Plains Legal Services, told commissioners the federal funding accounts for 73% of the nonprofit’s operating budget. The remainder is funded primarily through other state and government grants. If the Legal Services Corporation awarded both grants to East River, it would limit Dakota Plains to criminal defense appointments.
Stanford has been working with the nonprofit for over a year, and the organization recently hired William Sulik as its new executive director.
Sulik said he appreciates what Wroblewski told commissioners.
“It’s criticism of Dakota Plains that we need to hear and we need to fix,” he said, “and so I’m committed to doing that.”
Stanford added that she hopes Dakota Plains improves outcomes and productivity for clients.
“We feel we’re entering a new chapter here at Dakota Plains,” Stanford said. “We’re looking at things with a fresh perspective. Our commitment has not changed, and we’re hoping to improve in a lot of areas.”
Legal Services Corporation planned to visit South Dakota in August to assess both nonprofits. The agency will determine which organization is awarded funds by December. Dakota Plains applied for the funding and was preparing for the site visit, Stanford said at the July meeting.
Wroblewski hopes to streamline legal aid efforts in the state by consolidating them, improving consistency among client responses and creating efficiencies.
“We consider ourselves stewards of federal funding and want to make sure that money is being used to help people in the best way possible,” Wroblewski told South Dakota Searchlight after the meeting.
Commissioner: Situation ‘too unsettled’ to award full state funding
The commission awarded East River Legal Services $127,000 of state funds. Dakota Plains was awarded $54,000 to hire an intake specialist to set up a central clearinghouse for applications and $13,000 to support the continuation and expansion of the organization’s Justice Bus, which aims to increase accessibility by driving to legal deserts across the state and meeting with clients.
Commissioners questioned Stanford about the effectiveness of the Justice Bus in the few months since its launch, asking for clearer data that state funds put toward the effort are being used wisely. Stanford told commissioners the Justice Bus received nine client applications since its launch, but did not have data for further services or general interactions with potential clients.
Another $56,000 was withheld from Dakota Plains by the commission. The organization can reapply for the funds at the commission’s December meeting.
Sulik said he was disappointed but “heartened” to be able to apply for the funding later this year “that we believe is vital to the clients and applicants” served by the organization. He added that Dakota Plains staff are “exceptional” and passionate about their work and clients’ welfare.
“The commission is properly carrying out its function of ensuring that scarce funds are being used in an effective and efficient manner,” Sulik said.
Commission Chair Tom Welk, who is an attorney in Sioux Falls, suggested withholding the $56,000 from Dakota Plains until the commission knows that “leadership has got their hands around what’s going on.”
“I’m too unsettled, frankly, about what I’ve heard today,” Welk said, “with where everything is going with the organization.”
CAPITOL RENOVATION LOOMS AS A MAJOR EXPENSE FOR SOUTH DAKOTA
PIERRE, SD (Seth Tupper / South Dakota Searchlight) – As South Dakota lawmakers consider spending $650 million to build a prison, another major building expense is looming: the first full restoration of the state Capitol in nearly 40 years.
The state official in charge of planning the restoration is Darin Seeley, commissioner of the Bureau of Human Resources and Administration. When he briefed a committee of legislators during a public meeting Tuesday at the Capitol, one of them asked for a ballpark estimate of the cost.
Seeley stressed that he does not have an official number yet. “But,” he said, “we’re talking probably between $150 million and $200 million.”
South Dakota is in a tight budget climate while the Trump administration and Congress reduce support for states. The governor’s budget office says various state departments have already lost a combined $24 million in federal funding since Trump’s second term began.
That’s a reversal from the latter part of Trump’s first term and the Biden years, when South Dakota’s budget benefited from pandemic aid and stimulus funding. Lawmakers set aside enough money during those years that they should be able to build a men’s prison without taking on any debt, if they approve the plan during a Sept. 23 special legislative session. The new prison — which would be built on undeveloped land in northeast Sioux Falls — would replace the oldest parts of the pre-statehood penitentiary.
The lawmaker who asked Seeley for a ballpark estimate on the Capitol project is state Senate President Pro Tempore Chris Karr, a Republican from Sioux Falls.
“That number itself is a tremendously huge number,” Karr said afterward in an interview with South Dakota Searchlight. “I look forward to getting some more data and facts.”
No savings have been set aside yet for a full Capitol restoration. But lawmakers have provided about $12 million in the last six years to study problems afflicting the Capitol, along with its lake and its grounds, and to make temporary repairs while planning for a larger project.
Lake studied
So far, that work has included studying the condition of the 115-year-old, 1,300-feet-deep well feeding Capitol Lake. The well formerly produced natural gas in addition to water, and for many years the gas was lit to create a flaming fountain. The gas flow began to diminish about 20 years ago and can no longer sustain a flame.
A study in 2019 determined that the well could be compromised, and that a collapse could cause an uncontrolled flow of water to surface wherever it finds a pathway. A follow-up study that included sending a camera down the well determined it was in better shape than originally feared, and “a new water source for Capitol Lake is not the emergency that we had been led to believe,” Seeley told lawmakers.
Discussion continues about a replacement water source, but it’s been pushed down the priority list. Meanwhile, the lake has been dredged.
Roof repaired
The Capitol’s roof was repaired recently, although not without problems. Lawmakers learned Tuesday that while the roof was undergoing work, heavy rains in May and June leaked into the technology equipment closets that serve the House of Representatives chamber.
About $185,000 of damage was done, which will hopefully be covered by insurance. It’s unlikely new equipment will be in place by next month’s special session, meaning some House members’ voting buttons might not work, and the electronic display for voting results might be inoperable. The Legislative Research Council is preparing workarounds.
Plaster repair, rotunda restoration
The next project targets numerous areas of damaged plaster for repair, which Seeley hopes to finish before the start of the annual legislative session in January.
“We’re going to make it look right in the short run, in places where it’s the worst today,” he said.
After that, Seeley plans a rotunda restoration to begin after the 2026 legislative session and be completed by the 2027 session. A company specializing in historic restoration will try to recapture the rotunda’s original beauty, which Seeley said is dimmed by aging paint and plaster, and poor lighting.
While all of that is happening, Seeley hopes to work with the Capitol Complex Restoration and Beautification Commission — a bipartisan group of seven people appointed by the governor — on a full restoration plan. The last full restoration was completed for the 1989 statehood centennial celebration, he said.
The needs are many. Nearly every communication system that’s ever been installed in the Capitol is still in the building. The steam heating system needs a replacement. Some of the plumbing is more than 100 years old. Roof drains that run inside the walls need attention.
There was no discussion Tuesday about how to pay for it all. Karr said that discussion should start soon.
