RAPID CITY, SD – Rapid City’s new women’s prison construction is complete and the facility will open in the coming weeks. On Friday, state and local leaders gathered to cut the ribbon at the facility, marking the end of construction and the opening of the facility that will eventually house hundreds of female offenders.
Construction on the 102,750 square foot facility, located at 1020 N. Creek Drive, began in the summer of 2024. The Level III prison will house up to 300 female offenders and employ 140 people.
Eric Aldridge, Warden, said the facility is state of the art and will focus on rehabilitation and therapy designed to reduce recidivism.
“I think it’s a focus overall of the Department of Corrections here in South Dakota,” Aldridge said. “We just have this additional facet of therapeutic community. …Our plan is to have them have a place for them to build hope, have healing, dignity and respect.”
Aldridge said of the 300 women housed at the facility, half will come from the closure of a minimum-security facility in Pierre – the Pierre Minimum Center.
The facility has three 96-bed housing units and will focus on several rehabilitation efforts, including drug treatment, education, the Prison Fellowship Ministries program, and a 12-bed Mother Infant program building. One of the housing units features 96 drug treatment beds in a therapeutic community, which uses a highly structured treatment approach to target criminal thinking and substance use disorders and provide comprehensive care.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden said the women’s facility, along with the men’s facility in Sioux Falls which ground was recently broken for, will strengthen the prison system and support rehabilitation efforts.
“Together these projects will strengthen our correctional system and help protect our communities,” Rhoden said. “But corrections is more than just about building, it’s about people. And that’s why I created the Correctional Rehabilitation Task Force. We want people to leave prison better prepared to succeed than when they entered.”
The construction project was deemed to be substantially complete this week allowing for the ribbon cutting. The South Dakota Department of Corrections plans to begin moving offenders from the Pierre Minimum Center and Women’s Prison in Pierre to the new facility beginning next month.
The project dates back to 2023, when former Gov. Kristi Noem signed House Bill 1017, which appropriated funds of $60 million to purchase the site just south of Interstate 90 in Rapid City.
A public open house to tour the new facility will be announced in the coming weeks.
