Admissions and Orientation
When new offenders arrive in prison, they go through a process known as Admissions and Orientation or A & O. Male offenders go through the A & O process at the Jameson Annex of the South Dakota State Penitentiary; females at the South Dakota Women's Prison. The A & O process takes approximately 20 days and is designed to ease the transition into the offender’s new surroundings.

The admissions process includes a review of the sentencing, violation, and detainment paperwork for all admissions. An initial medical, dental, and mental health screening is conducted; photos are taken, fingerprinting is done and a DNA sample is taken for those who have not previously provided a sample. An interview is also conducted to collect personal and background information. Offenders are also issued an ID and assigned a cell/bed.

A series of risk and needs assessments are completed during A & O. The risk assessments include a review of the criminal history, education and employment, financial situation, family and marital status, accommodations, leisure and recreation interests, companions, alcohol and drug dependency, emotion and attitude of the offender and a general personality profile. The needs assessments target specific areas of need based on sub-groups such as chemical dependency, corrective thinking, job finding and keeping, vocational education, financial responsibility, anger and stress management, impact of crime on victims and domestic violence.

Offenders in A & O are not allowed visits; they are allowed visitation and phone calls once they are assigned to a housing unit.  You can write to an offender while they are in A & O. For male adult offenders, write to: (Offender Name)
South Dakota State Penitentiary
1600 North Drive, PO Box 5911
Sioux Falls, SD 57117-5911
For female adult offenders, write to:
(Offender Name)
South Dakota Women's Prison
3200 East Highway 34, c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue
Pierre, SD 57501-5070.

Basic toiletries are provided to offenders in A&O. Once an offender completes A & O and establishes an inmate bank account, they can purchase items such as shampoo, shaving cream and toothpaste from the prison commissary.

During this period, offenders are given an Inmate Living Guide, which explains the available services, institutional operations and rules and regulations. The Offender Living Guide also contains information on subjects such as classification, rules governing inmate conduct, discipline, visiting, mail, counts, commissary, finances, and other such activities.

Offenders are also given an Individual Program Directive (IPD) which spells out what is expected of them based on their time to serve, classification and program needs. For new parole system offenders sentenced to a term of years, the IPD establishes standards and criteria for initial parole. 

Classification
The offender classification process begins during A & O to determine an offender’s recommended placement.

Offender classification levels are predominantly based on prediction of risk including risk of escape, violence, dangerousness and repeat criminal behavior. Offenders are assigned an appropriate level of supervision based in part on classification and shall not be kept in a more secure status than the potential identified risk.

An offender’s assigned custody level determines the level of staff supervision that must be applied by staff supervising the offender. An offender’s custody level/classification may affect his/her housing, employment, transport, and programming.

Each offender in the custody of the DOC is assigned/classified to one of four custody levels: Close, Medium, Minimum Restricted, and Minimum.

Each offender has a classification review at least annually.

Releases
There are two main categories of release: parole release and sentence discharge.

Parole releases include offenders who are granted discretionary parole by the Board of Pardons and Paroles (Parole Board), offenders who are granted presumptive parole, and offenders who have a suspended sentence and are released.

Sentence discharges include offenders who have served their maximum sentence and release on their expiration of sentence date.