South Dakota Women's Prison
The South Dakota Women's Prison is part of the Solem Public Safety Center, in Pierre, South Dakota. The Solem Public Safety Center is a unique facility that houses a prison, state corrections offices, and law enforcement agencies of the state, county, and city governments.
In 1995, legislation was introduced that authorized the construction of a new women's prison in Pierre. After the passage of the bill, the idea was pursued of joining resources with local governments to best utilize the new facility.
The completed facility includes the new state Women's Prison, the Central Office of the state Department of Corrections, Pierre Police Department, Hughes County Sheriff's office, a State Highway Patrol station, and State Division of Criminal Investigation agents. The Women's Prison portion of the facility constitutes the majority of the 78,000 square foot building.
The South Dakota Women's Prison opened and was dedicated on October 23, 1997.
The Pierre Community Work Center is located nearby in the former DCI Training Academy. The Community Work Center houses minimum-security inmates on work release and community service status, as well as parolees in the Community Transition Program.
Prison Insights
South Dakota Womens Prison
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Visiting Hours and Rules
The South Dakota Department of Corrections uses an online scheduling system for visitation. To schedule a visit with your inmate at South Dakota Women's Prison click here. Once you are an approved visitor, you will be able to see the available visiting times for your inmate on the scheduling site.
Visits may be delayed, suspended or cancelled because of security issues and some visitation schedules may be changed due to special activities. If you are traveling from out of town, you can call the facility control room to verify the visit schedules.
Requirements to Schedule a Visit
Valid photo ID is required for all visitors at check-in.
Before scheduling a visit, you must submit a visitor verification form to become an approved visitor. You can do that by clicking here.
Once you are on the inmate’s approved visitor list, you can register for an in-person visit or video visit. All in-person visitation is scheduled on this website. You must provide GTL with a valid email address where you can receive email. GTL requires an email account for account creation and for using the online registration tool.
Video Visitation
To schedule a video visit, please go to https://sddoc.gtlvisitme.com
What items can I bring/not bring to a visit?
You are allowed to bring cash ($1 bills and change) for vending machines, bottles of baby formula, diapers, and receiving blankets. You must bring proper identification in order to visit an inmate. Lockers are available to visitors to store their coats and valuables.
Do not bring: tobacco products, cell phones/cameras/pagers, electronic and recording devices, watches and smart watches, medications, handbags, wallets, magazines/newspapers/books, toys, photo albums, lighters, and food stuffs.
Visitors are subject to metal detectors and hand pat searches prior to entering, during or when leaving the visit area. DOC canines, Ion scanners or electronic devices may be used to detect the presence of controlled substances or narcotics. Refusal to be searched may result in the termination of visiting privileges.
Visitors must dress appropriately for their age and gender. Failure to adhere to the dress code will result in a visit being denied.
Physical Address
South Dakota Women's Prison
3200 East Highway 34
c/o 500 E. Capital Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
Driving Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/7GyiKJhw5tHbggJr7
General Phone Number
(605) 773-6636
Inmate Mailing Address(es)
Inmate Name/DOC Number
South Dakota Women's Prison
3200 East Highway 34
c/o 500 E. Capital Ave.
Pierre, SD 57501
Books, magazines, calendars (subject to certain size stipulations), newspapers, and periodicals must be received directly from the publisher, distributor, or accredited institution of higher learning.
How to Call an Inmate
You can't call an inmate at South Dakota Women's Prison. But they do have access to phones during certain hours. For complete details on how to call an inmate in South Dakota, please click here.
How to Send Money
Inmates may receive business/payroll checks, United States cashier's checks, or money orders through the mail only for deposit into their institutional account. Personal checks and cash are not accepted and will be returned to the sender at the expense of the inmate.
Family members can use a credit or debit card to send money through JailATM.com. Simply create an account, choose "Commissary" and follow the prompts for state, facility, and inmate name.
Please note that credit card deposits made online are assessed a fee, which is retained by the provider of the service and is not payable to DOC.
Programs For Inmates
Prison Industries at the Women's Prison includes an embroidery shop. Badlands Quilting is a private-sector prison industry with a shop at the Women's Prison.
Inmates can take classes for literacy, Adult Basic Education and GED as well as receive treatment for chemical dependency and for sex offenses.
The state Department of Health provides medical, dental and optometric services for the adult corrections system. The state Department of Social Services provides mental health and chemical dependency services.
W2 PROGRAM
In 1998, a Woman to Woman Program (W-2) was started at the Women's Prison in Pierre.
The program is made up of "sponsors" of inmates who befriend and visit with the inmates regularly, help the inmate establish or reestablish a positive image of self, help them bridge gaps with society and help inmates re-enter society upon their release from prison.
SOUTH DAKOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY DATA ENTRY PROJECT
Inmates at the South Dakota Women's Prison are working with the South Dakota Historical Society to enter state census data into a database.The program began at Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield but has since been moved to Pierre.
Between 1905 and 1945, a state census was conducted every ten years. Information was handwritten on 3 x 5 cards for each state resident, making the information difficult to read. Due to age, the cards were becoming brittle and faded.
Inmates enter information from the cards into a database. Fields include name, county, city of residence, education level, religious affiliation and citizenship. Once the information has been entered in the database and checked for errors, the information will be uploaded to an online, searchable site. Inmates are currently working on cards from 1925.
Pictures of South Dakota Women's Prison
Careers at South Dakota Women's Prison
To find out more information about a career with the South Dakota Department of Corrections and available jobs at South Dakota Women's Prison, click here.
