Mike Durfee State Prison

A medium-security state prison for men in Springfield, South Dakota, on the former University of South Dakota–Springfield campus.

Overview

Mike Durfee State Prison is a state prison for men operated by the South Dakota Department of Corrections. It is in Springfield, in Bon Homme County, in the southeastern part of the state near the Missouri River. The facility houses men in medium and lower custody as general population.

South Dakota DOC assigns a custody level based on factors that include sentence length, time remaining, and conduct, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. The custody class and housing unit held at a given prison determine whether visits are contact or non-contact, so families confirm the arrangement that applies to the specific person before a first visit.

What Makes the Mike Durfee State Prison Different

Mike Durfee State Prison occupies the former campus of the University of South Dakota–Springfield, which the state converted to correctional use; the facility was renamed in 1999 for Mike Durfee. Because it sits on a former college campus rather than a purpose-built prison footprint, its layout reflects that earlier use.

The prison also serves as the administrative point for two minimum-custody work-release centers elsewhere in the state — the Yankton Minimum Center (in Yankton) and the Rapid City Minimum Center (in Rapid City) — which operate under Mike Durfee State Prison. Those minimum centers are a separate lower-custody tier and are not covered as individual facility pages.

Visiting

The statewide SD DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at the Mike Durfee State Prison. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

Mike Durfee State Prison is at 1412 Wood Street in Springfield, in Bon Homme County in southeastern South Dakota. Springfield is in the southeast corner of the state near the Missouri River and the Nebraska border, reached by way of State Highway 37 and State Highway 52. The nearest larger cities are Yankton to the east and Sioux Falls to the northeast; the closest commercial airport service is in the Sioux Falls area.

Parking is on site. Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside — visitors may typically bring only identification, a car key, and coins for vending machines.

Nearby Services

Springfield is a small community with limited lodging and dining, with additional options in Yankton to the east. Emergency medical care is available in the area, with larger hospitals in Yankton and in the Sioux Falls area to the northeast. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the widest range of fuel, food, and overnight options in Yankton or the Sioux Falls area.

Mail

South Dakota DOC scans incoming personal mail and delivers it to the person’s prison tablet rather than handing over the original paper — a policy adopted to keep drug-soaked paper out of the prisons. The scanning is done at the facility; South Dakota does not use an out-of-state mail vendor, so letters are addressed to the prison itself.

Address personal mail to the person at Mike Durfee State Prison, with their full name and DOC number:

(Full name and DOC number) Mike Durfee State Prison 1412 Wood Street Springfield, SD 57062

Every envelope must show the person’s full name and DOC number and a complete, legible return address, or it can be rejected. Cards must be plain (no stickers, glitter, musical or electronic cards, multi-layered cards, or homemade cards); photos must be 4x6 and not Polaroid; envelopes, stamps, and blank stationery cannot be sent in.

Books and magazines must be new and shipped directly from a publisher, distributor, or retailer (used books from third-party marketplaces are not accepted, and hardcovers are generally rejected). Legal mail goes directly to the facility and is opened and inspected for contraband in the person’s presence rather than scanned.

Verify the current mail policy and address with the South Dakota DOC before sending anything, as mail and tablet rules change.

Learn More

• Visiting in South Dakota — getting on the approved visitor list, scheduling, and what to expect at the prison.
• Mail in South Dakota — how scanned mail works, what you can send, and the correct address.
• Phone & Video in South Dakota — setting up ViaPath calls and scheduling video visits.
• Sending Money in South Dakota — how to add money to phone and trust accounts.
• Medical Care in South Dakota — how health care works and what care costs.
• Intake & Transfers in South Dakota — where people enter the system and how they move between facilities.