PIERRE, S.D. (SDBA) — Representatives Thursday passed a bill appropriating over a quarter of a billion dollars in state and federal funds toward the construction of a new men’s prison.

The House of Representatives passed SB49 58 to 11. The measure now goes to Gov. Kristi Noem for her signature.

House sponsor, Republican Rep. Tony Venhuizen from Sioux Falls, said the bill was for putting money aside for a facility that could cost over $700 million.

He said it was not a bill about the location of the prison, which is currently set for rural Lincoln County between Harrisburg and Canton. 

However, some legislators were concerned about taking money from the state’s “rainy day” fund and putting it in special prison construction fund. They were also concerned about rising costs when no dirt has yet to be moved.

Republican Rep. John Mills from Brookings said a 2022 study said that 18 projects the state needed–including the new men’s and women’s prisons–predicted the state needed $608 million.

“Here if we pass Senate bill 49 the way it is, we will have set aside in combination $660 million more than the study said we would need to do everything in all of the prison system,” Mills, a contractor, said. “That’s irresponsible to me.”

Mills said the state should have set a price at the beginning of the process for construction of the prison. 

However, Venhuizen said that if the state puts $600 million in the prison construction trust fund, at five percent interest, that’s $30 million a year more for the project. 

He also answered questions about the lower costs of new prison construction in Nebraska and North Dakota.

He said the North Dakota prison was much smaller and the Nebraska prison was not a maximum security prison like the proposed South Dakota prison.

The measure has already passed the Senate and now heads to the governor.