Hey, did you hear all that talk about rehabilitation and recidivism during the 2026 Legislative Session?
No, neither did I, and neither did Representative Brian Mulder (R-11/Sioux Falls):
Last year, lawmakers coalesced around the need to improve rehabilitation programming and reduce recidivism rates as part of a broader investment in South Dakota’s prison system. Those two issues were sticking points in an ultimately successful effort to approve construction of a men’s prison.
Yet during the 2026 legislative session that wrapped up earlier this month, few bills were brought forward to address inmate rehabilitation needs, lawmakers on a Downtown Sioux Falls Rotary Club panel said on Monday.
…The drive to address rehabilitation needs this session was pushed aside by the desire to provide property tax relief across the state, Mulder told South Dakota Searchlight after the panel discussion. The result is “another year lost” in strengthening rehabilitation as a new Rapid City Women’s Prison nears completion and the state begins construction on a men’s prison in Sioux Falls that will replace the oldest parts of the penitentiary.
“When we’re not releasing individuals to the best of their potential from our prison, it just puts a strain on our community overall,” Mulder told Searchlight, adding, “it’s just spinning our wheels, costing us more and more dollars.”
He told members of the Rotary Club that lawmakers and state officials will “continue to have that conversation” through the state Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. Gov. Larry Rhoden formed the group of lawmakers, government officials and nonprofit leaders last year while lawmakers considered approving the $650 million men’s prison [Makenzie Huber, “Prison Rehabilitation, Recidivism ‘Quickly Forgotten’ by Lawmakers This Session, Legislator Says,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.03.23].
Well, the Governor did direct his rehab task force to work through 2026, and they’ve only had two meetings so far, and none during this Legislative Session. Legislators probably planned to wait for that group to do a full round of hearings and recommend bills for the 2027 Session. That’s the plan task force chief Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen appears to be following:
The task force is focused on behavioral health, educational, faith-based and Native American-themed programs. Its next meeting will be in April, Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen confirmed on Monday.
Venhuizen told attendees he expects rehabilitation and recidivism legislation will be a “major topic” next winter as the task force provides recommendations [Huber, 2026.03.23].
Lt. Gov. Venhuizen probably could have whipped the task force into shape sooner, but you darn Senators kept him busy briefing out the argument against stripping him of his constitutional tie-breaking vote.
South Dakota’s school to prison pipeline accelerated in 1983 when Republican Governor Bill Janklow converted the University of South Dakota at Springfield into a prison; then his people killed Gina Score in a boot camp, ended environmental protection and drove the red moocher state’s descent into the hellish chemical toilet it is today.
So, South Dakota Republicans love the police state as women are being incarcerated at the highest rates on Earth and triple the US average but the state’s law enforcement industry wants that number to be even higher. In a state that sells freedom sobriety checkpoints, especially near reservation borders, mean South Dakota has the highest number of DUI arrests per capita. Between 2021 and 2025 South Dakota arrested 8,220 women for drunk driving at the second highest rate in the nation in a state where it’s reported that sixty seven percent of Native American women reoffend.
Just think how much money the state makes Larry. There’s entire industry’s around DUI also. They can’t endanger that either.
They could get those legislators on their late night trips to Ft. Pierre in the free dumb state but some things are better left undone.
Sex and guns are what bring in the political donations; thus, our legislators always concentrate on legislation in those 2 areas.
Mark, you are correct that DUI is big business. Lawyers, insurance agents/companies and counselors/counseling agencies make money on DUI’s. I do not think that government agencies make any significant money on DUI’s.