Pennington County Jail — Secondary SD ICE holding, Rapid City
Overview
The Pennington County Jail in Rapid City is the secondary ICE holding facility in South Dakota. It receives detainer requests after Minnehaha County Jail (Sioux Falls) and the SD State Penitentiary. ICE has a listed facility page for this jail on ice.gov.
ICE Relationship
- Listed on ICE.gov as a detention facility
- IGSA contract (confirmed by heatmap data)
- No confirmed 287(g) agreement for the sheriff’s office specifically (the statewide Highway Patrol and DCI agreements cover Rapid City area enforcement)
- 3 National Guard members assigned to process ICE paperwork in Rapid City (August 2025)
Pipeline Position
Pennington County Jail handles ICE detainees from western South Dakota, while Minnehaha handles the east. Both feed into the Fort Snelling ERO field office system for longer-term detention.
Operation Prairie Thunder
Hot Springs (Fall River County, adjacent to Pennington) was the site of the 12th Operation Prairie Thunder saturation patrol in March 2026, suggesting active enforcement in the western SD corridor. By May 2026, the operation had taken 75 people into ICE custody statewide, with Rapid City’s Rapid City ERO sub-office ((605) 355-4300) managing western-SD deportation officers. Detainee case requests route to StPaul.Outreach@ice.dhs.gov (Fort Snelling/St. Paul ERO).
May 2026 Partnership Expansion
The state’s broader 287(g) buildout (Highway Patrol troopers expanding from 17 to 41, announced May 18-19, 2026) increases field-enforcement capacity in the Rapid City corridor. The Global Detention Project lists Pennington County Jail (307 St. Joseph St.) as an ICE detention site holding adult men under ICE custody, confirmed in use through 2025-2026.
Sources
- Pennington County Jail | ICE detention facility page
- SD Searchlight: National Guard troops begin processing immigration paperwork for ICE
- Operation Prairie Thunder wraps up 12th patrol in Hot Springs
- Global Detention Project: Pennington County Jail (South Dakota)
- KOTA: Rhoden administration expands ICE partnerships; 287(g) troopers to reach 41 (May 19, 2026)