These 5 Deadly Prisons Can Only Be Found In South Dakota

The most significant and most dangerous of all South Dakota prisons is the South Dakota State Penitentiary: a minimum, medium, and max facility that was initially built in 1881. Sadly, the State Penitentiary experienced the tragic in 2011, when a correctional officer was bludgeoned to death by two inmates who were trying to escape. Since then, both inmates were sentenced to death, with one dying by lethal injection in 2012.

Opened in 1993, the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary houses the state prison system's most dangerous inmates, including those in maximum security and those who need disciplinary segregation.

What used to be the campus of the University of South Dakota at Springfield is now the Mike Durfee State Prison: a men's prison that houses both medium and maximum security inmates. Named for the former University of South Dakota teacher Mike Durfee, the penitentiary began as a woman's prison before converting to co-ed and finally all men's in 1997.

Located in Pierre, the South Dakota Women's Prison is - you guessed it - an all women's prison that houses not only a lock-up portion but also law enforcement agency and state corrections offices, all-together forming the Solem Public Safety Center. Unlike the previously mentioned prisons, the Women's Prison also houses a Community Work Center for minimum-security inmates on work release and community service.

Last but not least on our list of the 5 deadliest prisons is the Rapid City Community Work Center which - like the Women's Prison's Community Work Center - is primarily for minimum-security inmates. Those who live at the Rapid City Community Work Center are known for doing such community service projects as thinning timber in the Black Hills and fighting fires.