Multiple agencies responded to what state officials were calling a “disturbance” Wednesday evening at the South Dakota State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, but exactly what the situation remained unclear.
A dispatcher with Metro Communications, which handles all dispatch services for the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office, the Sioux Falls Police Department, Sioux Falls Fire Rescue and EMS, forwarded the Argus Leader to the South Dakota Highway Patrol, which the dispatcher said was overseeing the response . But a spokesperson for the Highway Patrol was not immediately available to confirm more.
Officials with the Minnehaha County Sheriff’s Office were also not immediately available to explain more.
The South Dakota Department of Corrections oversees the state penitentiary’s operations. At 8:30 pm, DOC Secretary Kellie Wasko released the following statement:
“Order has been restored at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. After a disturbance, which included a staff assault, the response followed established protocol and was conducted professionally, swiftly, and thoroughly. Thank you to our corrections officers for doing an outstanding job to safely resolve the situation.”
The statement did not include more detail and did not answer questions about the severity of the assault, how many agencies may have responded or what may have caused the disturbance. The statement did not also include whether the incident would trigger any kind of outside investigation.
The Argus Leader has reached out to Wasko and Gov. Kristi Noem’s office for more information. A spokesperson with the Governor’s Office referred media to Wasko’s statement.
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‘The prisoners are pissed.’
Noelle Morgan, whose partner is inside the facility, said Wednesday night she believed the disturbance was tied to the state’s recent and indefinite suspension of tablet use for inmates at the penitentiary.
Last week, the DOC