By Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – This week, the Minnehaha County Commission voted unanimously to possibly issue $50 million in bonds to rebuild and rebrand the current county Juvenile Detention Center.
While a new Juvenile Justice Center has been in the planning stages for the past decade, discussion on whether to remodel or rebuild have been more prominent in recent months.
As reported in the past, experts have looked at deficiencies at the JDC on safety issues at the entrance, in prisoner transport, in the hallways, and the courtroom.
Last fall, the cost of remodeling to make necessary upgrades came in only slightly less than building new ($49 million versus $51 million).
Then-commissioner Cindy Heiberger, who had been a major advocate for juvenile justice reform, wanted to vote to move forward at that time, but she thought it would be more appropriate to have the new commissioners be the ones to vote on it, as they would ultimately be responsible to pay for the project.
Auditor Ben Kyte presented information on the costs and said the property tax levy for the bond would be 17-cents per $1,000, which he said would amount to a cost of $50 per year on the average home in the county ($294,000).
However, the exact cost of financing is still in question. Commissioner Dean Karsky was disappointed the state wasn’t taking a more active part in this, but he hoped they still would.
He pointed out that 25% of the juvenile inmates housed by the county are actually state inmates.
Statewide, when people under 18 are adjudicated and convicted as adults, they are housed at the Minnehaha County Juvenile Detention Center, since the South Dakota DOC is unable to house underage offenders in adult prisons.
“The state needs to come to the table,” Karsky said.
He added he was still holding out hope that legislation would happen in Pierre to help fund the project.
“It’s ironic,” Commissioner Gerald Beninga said, “the legislature wants to finance regional jails, but when it comes to a juvenile justice facility, they declined.”
In discussing the need for the facility, Commissioner Joe Kippley said, “One of the first facilities I toured was the JDC. It is ‘overwhelming’ how ‘underwhelming’ it is.
“If we want to recruit quality people to work (there), they need a quality facility to work in.”
But prior to the vote, Commission Chairperson Jean Bender summed everyone’s thoughts up when she said, “This is one of the few (major) projects no one has spoken in opposition. It is an investment in the long-term health of our community.”
The motion to go ahead with the project was made by Beninga, seconded by Karsky, and it passed on a 5-0 vote.
The next county commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the third-floor meeting room of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
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