One hundred thirty-seven years ago our state founders placed the capitol in Pierre because it lay near the geographic center of a young frontier state. That decision fit a time when travel was slow and the population thin. The facts that justified it no longer exist. South Dakota has changed, and good government requires us to change with it.
Isolated and Insulated
State government in Pierre is isolated and insulated from the rest of the state. The town has only 14,000 people. Meanwhile, South Dakotans live more and more in the southeast corner of the state, or the Black Hills.
Nearly half of all South Dakotans live in the southeastern eighth of the state, anchored by the Sioux Falls region, which has more than 280,000 residents. The state population is 937,000, yet the machinery of government remains hundreds of miles from where most citizens live, work, and pay taxes. Our state capitol should not be a remote outpost.
Half of South Dakotans live in the SE corner of the state.
Distance has practical consequences. For many residents, participating in government means a long winter drive. That barrier quietly limits who serves in state government, who testifies, who serves on boards, and who feels welcome in the process.
Isolation is a Barrier to Competence
State agencies also struggle to recruit professionals. Accountants, engineers, and technology specialists can choose among many cities; asking them to relocate to an isolated town with limited opportunities for their spouses and few direct flights makes hiring harder and turnover higher. Location has become a hidden barrier to competence.
The legislative session highlights the mismatch. Lawmakers meet during the coldest months in a community with modest hotels and restaurants and little space for large gatherings. Talented citizens, especially younger professionals with families, often decide not to run for office because six or eight weeks in Pierre means stepping away from businesses and community life. Holding the session in a larger metropolitan area would widen the circle of citizens who can realistically serve.
Expensive Capitol Building Repairs
Now we face another decision point: the capitol building itself needs major repair. Officials acknowledge that a comprehensive renovation could cost $150 million or more. Spending that sum to preserve a facility in a location that no longer fits the state would double down on yesterday’s map. The smarter course is to invest in a long-range solution that aligns government with where South Dakotans live.
Relocation does not mean abandoning history. The Pierre building could become a museum, archives center, or ceremonial site honoring the state’s origins. But the working capitol, the place where laws are written and citizens gather, should be where the state’s future is unfolding.
The legislative district map reflects where people are.
The Sioux Falls area is the obvious anchor, yet other southeastern communities such as Brookings and Mitchell deserve consideration. Brookings offers a university environment, research capacity, and a growing professional workforce. Mitchell sits at a transportation crossroads with room to plan a civic campus. Both would place government within reach of a far larger share of residents.
Capitol Relocation Fund
Earlier this decade, the state showed great foresight in creating a fund with excess revenues to build a new state penitentiary. It did this without a specific location or plan in mind. Once significant resources were available, the state took the next step of developing a plan. That successful model would make sense for a Capitol Relocation Fund too.
Great decisions require looking beyond sentiment. Our founders chose Pierre because it served the people of their day. Serving the people today points in a different direction.
We can spend $150 million renovating a symbol in the wrong place, or we can build a capitol that matches the state we have become. If government is meant to be of the people, it should also be among the people, and that means bringing the capitol home to where South Dakotans are living and where they are clearly headed.
Great thought but impossible to implement. We’d have a better chance in declaring Minnehaha the 51st state.
I respectfully disagree. Pierre is central for the 4 major cities and 5 Native American reservations. Lake Oahe is remarkable fresh water recreation. I can stand proudly on the brass cap in the floor under the center of the Capital Dome and celebrate state history and diversity. This spot is where Sioux Falls fascism will eventually be addressed. It’s on the way to Black Hills tourism. It’s where I’m proud of Rapid City, Spearfish, Deadwood, and Sturgis. Our heritage here forgives us for high interest credit card crime. Sioux Falls is pot holes with a channel bypass that’s not the Sioux River. It’s apartments, retail, and office buildings. We need the Capitol in the center of grassland, wooded hills, and where buffalo roam. Let’s stay proud of our historic Capital. It’ll never be torn down and replaced with a gold leaf ballroom for thousands meant to impress visiting kings.
Where buffalo roam…not humans! THE CAPITAL MUST MOVE! I’ve lived my entire life in Sioux Falls and NEVER understood why our “SOVTH” DAKOTA CAPITAL is located where it is. This is a no brainer, MOVE IT,
Well written and makes a lot of sense.
The next time you go to Sutton Bay, you’ll have to take the back way ‘cuz they’ll never let you drive through Pierre.
Will the Capitol be in Pierre 100 years from now?
That seems impossible to imagine given expected population growth.
We should begin planning for the eventual move.
There’s some land on the Riverline that could be a great location.
In the meantime, legislators should acknowledge they’re in the middle of nowhere and meet the needs of the people in other ways.
Committees should be required to accept online testimony.
There should be a cracker barrel in Sioux Falls every Saturday during session where legislators can meet and listen to their constituents.
Summer study sessions should be here too where more folks can more easily participate.
Why is there no formal educational introduction to the legislature provided for visiting school groups and visitors? We should be explaining how state government works in a dedicated classroom space. We should have videos and online tutorials.
We could do so much more. Other states and provinces do so much more.
Love the idea of moving the state capitol to the Riverline District in downtown Sioux Falls, Reynold!
Our neighbors to the north (my home state) twice attempted to relocate their capitol. There were efforts initiated in 1915 to move the capitol to New Rockford but they were ultimately thwarted by the supreme court in 1920. The issue arose again in 1932 when residents voted on a proposal to move the capitol to Jamestown. The vote was about 7 to 1 against the proposal. I am not aware of any serious relocation efforts thereafter. The new capitol building (the “skyscraper on the prairie’) was completed during the Great Depression and I suspect Bismarck residents have no fear of ever losing their capitol city status. I’ve lived in SD for 40 years but never learned the history of how/why Pierre became our capitol. Over the years I have often mused that the Dakotas should have been divided east/west rather than north/south. (Yes, I broadly understand how the political/economic differences augured the north/south division in that era.)
Fix your state population maps. One has less than 800k residents, the other ~940k.
One is ND and the other is SD.
Pierre would be doomed
Love this brave and logical idea.
If a new prison cost was $500M+, building a new state capital would likely pass a few billion dollars, and decimate what is left of Pierre. It would become a great place for the YouTubers that film empty malls and ghost towns to make content. Typical government idea… let’s spend $2B to save $150 million. The cherry on top was to still save the capital buildings
to make a museum… at a cost of 10’s of millions.