By Meredith Colias
Rapid City Journal
PENNINGTON COUNTY, S.D. — The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office has been given the green light to spend nearly $550,000 for a bus that would be used to shuttle prisoners to and from the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
The county commission voted Tuesday to spend $521,000 from reserve funds to buy a motor coach that would be customized for inmate transfers. The rest of the money would come out of the sheriff’s office’s budget.
Far from a typical commercial bus, prisoners are transported just like they are to court with leg irons, handcuffs and belly chains. The 47-seat bus will have non-opening windows, video monitors and segregation cells for especially violent prisoners.
“It’s not built for comfort,” Chief Deputy Brian Mueller said.
With two buses currently transporting prisoners across the state twice a week, Mueller said the backup bus was difficult to maintain, making its replacement a public safety necessity.
“If we get a bus break down that has 40 plus inmates in the middle of the state, it would cause us some serious security concerns,” he said.
Full story: Pennington County to spend $550,000 for inmate-transfer bus