Jun. 13—MITCHELL — Talk of a new state prison being built in Mitchell has rapidly become the city’s most polarizing issue.
In recent weeks, debate over the proposal has dominated public conversation and civic discourse. From city offices to social media feeds, the question of whether Mitchell should host a correctional facility has become nearly impossible to ignore.
But can the city handle it? On that front, Mitchell and local leaders believe are aligned. Regardless of where they fall on the prison debate, they believe Mitchell has the capacity to handle the kind of population and infrastructure growth a prison might bring.
According to Mitchell School District Superintendent Joe Childs, the city’s educational infrastructure is more than prepared to absorb new students, should the prison project come to fruition.
“We’ve seen a recent decline in enrollment, reflected in our trends,” Childs said. “We anticipate another slight dip next year due to a large graduating class and a smaller incoming kindergarten class.”
The district currently serves 2,586 students, but Childs said it could handle up to 1,000 more thanks to recent facility expansions.
“Our facilities are designed to accommodate growth, with general education classrooms, dedicated spaces for art, physical education, computers, and libraries, as well as robust special education programming,” he said.
While the district is not taking an official stance for or against the prison, Childs emphasized that growth in enrollment would be viewed positively.
“It would be a benefit for the continued health and vitality of the school district,” he said.
Concerns about whether Mitchell could house an influx of workers and their families have been answered by Terry Sabers, President of Mitchell Area Housing Inc. (MAHI), who says the city is in a much better place than it was just a couple years ago.
“Two years ago, I would have told you yes, we had a problem,” Sabers said. “But by the first of August, I’ll have lots that are ready to go, and I have another 50 I can get, plus maybe another 100 or 150.”
According to Sabers, Mitchell could feasibly build between 150 and 300 affordable homes — priced around $300,000 or lower — within five years.
“We can handle it,” he said. “There’s demand, and we can build enough lower-cost homes to suit it. I feel comfortable.”
Sabers also pointed to the surrounding “bedroom communities” like Corsica, Alexandria and Mount Vernon, some of which already have developments underway and could accommodate additional residents. He added that not all of the proposed 440 correctional jobs would require new residents, as some positions could be filled by people already living in the area.
Water and sewer infrastructure — often one of the biggest hurdles in high-growth projects — appears to be under control. Mitchell’s current “Connecting Neighbors” project involves the installation of a 30-inch water line to the city. Although the project was launched before any prison proposal surfaced, city officials say it’s more than capable of supporting increased demand.
“This line was not designed, built, or had any conceptual idea about the prison,” said Scott Pick, who is the general manager of the Randall Community Water District. “There was no genie in the bottle predicting the prison.”
Randall Water has been lined up as the secondary water source for the city, adding to what B-Y Water already provides to Mitchell. Both supply water from the Missouri River. Still, Pick confirmed, “Mitchell absolutely has ample capacity to continue to serve Mitchell if the prison were to come to town.” The added utility use could also generate new revenue streams for the city.
Both Davison County Sheriff Steve Harr and Mitchell Police Chief Dean Knippling said they do not anticipate needing additional officers or seeing a spike in local crime simply because of a prison’s presence.
According to Harr, internal prison security is self-contained.
“Escapes are rare,” he said, pointing to only 45 documented cases in many years from the state prison in Sioux Falls.
Knippling added that local law enforcement would not typically respond to incidents inside the prison.
“We might assist with external issues on rare occasions,” he said.
Still, both men noted one potential challenge: staffing. With 440 full-time correctional positions proposed, the prison could create competition for jail and patrol officer roles.
“It’s a competitive market,” Harr said. “We’d likely need to increase pay to stay competitive, especially at the county jail.”
At the same time, Knippling acknowledged a silver lining.
“Corrections officers are generally good communicators. Many law enforcement applicants come from corrections backgrounds, so this could help our recruitment,” he said.
Both officials pushed back against the idea that released inmates would automatically stay in Mitchell.
“Most are paroled back to their home communities,” Harr said. “A very small percentage are released without supervision — and even then, there’s no guarantee they’d stay here,” Harr said.
In other words, the city’s population isn’t likely to grow significantly through inmate releases, and any impact on local crime would likely be minimal.
According to Harr, a small percentage of inmates, known as “flat timers,” serve their full sentence without parole and are released without supervision. In those cases, their destination is not predetermined. Still, both officials emphasized that it’s inaccurate to assume that the community would absorb a large number of former inmates.
Regardless of whether the prison project proceeds, Mitchell continues to position itself as a city poised for growth. Earlier this year, the city was named South Dakota’s Community of the Year for the third time, in recognition of its commitment to economic development, housing, and workforce expansion.
“This is a major opportunity for us,” said Mitchell Area Development Corporation CEO Mike Lauritsen. “Our mission has always been to grow the economic base of the Mitchell area by creating new jobs — and this project would do exactly that.”
Although some city leaders have recently retracted their support for the prison project, officials across key sectors remain consistent in their assessments: Mitchell has the infrastructure, school capacity, housing potential, and utility readiness to absorb growth tied to a new correctional facility. Overall, city officials agree that if the prison is approved, Mitchell has the capacity to support the resulting population and service needs.
“We’ve got to get creative if we want to get more growth,” Sabers said. “If we got this kind of growth, we could handle it. I feel comfortable saying that.”