Alfonzo Galvan| Argus Leader
Parole absconders are leading the surge in crime in Sioux Falls, or at least that’s the perspective given from law enforcement officials.
Even Mayor Paul TenHaken has emphasized the problem presented with an increase in parolees living in the area during an address to the public made in September as part of a public safety update for the city.
"There are more parolees in our community than ever before," TenHaken said. "We've seen a roughly 50% increase in people in our community on parole."
Parolees are being increasingly named as the perpetrators of crime in Sioux Falls, but there’s more to it than justice impacted individuals, or those who been incarcerated, falling back into some old habits. An Argus Leader data analysis of data from the South Dakota Department of Corrections found a more than 90% increase in the number of parolees classified as absconders since 2017.
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A parolee is someone who has been convicted of a state charge and served prison time but granted supervised release, according to Michael Winder, spokesperson for the DOC. Parolees become absconders when their whereabouts become unknown to parole agents, Winder said.
Since 2018, there’s been about a 10% increase in people on parole across the state, according to an Argus Leader analysis.
Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead said as part of that September public safety update that the presence of resources in larger cities like Rapid City and Sioux Falls meant that often parolees were released into one of the two communities, even if it wasn’t where they lived or where they committed the crime that got them into prison.
“There are some cases where an individual just wants to get away from this environment,” Milstead said at the time, adding parolees often want to live back at home instead of in a halfway house. “But because the parole services aren’t available there, it makes that parole plan not one that could be accepted.”
Sioux Falls hotspot for life after prison
About 45% of South Dakota’s parolees live in the Sioux Falls area, according to data obtained from the DOC. As of the end of October, there are 1,393 parolees supervised by agents in Sioux Falls, Winder said via email.
The DOC did not provide comment when asked why parolees stay in the area at higher rates, but some parolees did.
“I'm a firm advocate in promoting Sioux Falls as a way of finding a new platform. The job scene out here is ridiculously open,” said Justin Langen, a current parolee.
More:Parole absconders in South Dakota have doubled since 2015. Here's what that means
Langen, 37, has been in the system throughout his life. He has been on probation, and later parole since 2014 for charges related to drug possession, according to his court records. As a convicted felon, he said there’s a reason people stay in Sioux Falls, even when they’re released from jail or prison.
It’s all in the support system, he said. Resources available for drug addiction and mental health help are also more prominent in the state’s biggest city.
Parolees may also have the best chances of finding an appropriate place to live in Sioux Falls, too, even if it means being away from family in other more rural portions of the state.
“One of my biggest things that irritates me is when you fill out that (job) application, they're real quick to say, ‘Oh, we don't discriminate against sex, race, religion, whatever,'” Langen said. “But as soon as you put down that you're a felon, you're automatically put in a separate category, where you’re looked at some type of way.”
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Langen is currently facing both state and federal charges that could send him back to prison for years, but said he’s not planning on running from the law anytime soon. Those charges include federal charges for drugs and a pending domestic violence case out of Minnehaha County, according to Langen and county court documents.
It’s important for him to maintain his “walk with Christ” for a better life, and that's his focus, he said. Langen said he wants to be an example to the public that even though someone is a felon or on parole, it does not mean they’re automatically bad. Good can still come out of them.
Langen fills his week with Bible study, leaderships classes and community service, along with more worship, in his attempt to turn his life around and maintain sobriety. And though he’s still facing charges, Langen said he’s not planning on giving up his sobriety anytime soon and hopes this’ll be his last time in the system.
Mental health, drugs holding parolees back
Langen also told the Argus Leader it’s easy to blame people on parole for the increase in crime, but the issue is a systemic one with drug abuse and mental health issues running rampant through the justice impacted.
“Mental health and substance abuse issues are a factor. I do believe that the recidivism rate for parolees is the lack of proper programming, proper funding,” Langen said. “We're literally coming home to the same thing we were going in from.”
Bernard Merritt, a parole absconder currently awaiting trial at the Minnehaha County Jail, told the Argus Leader he’s the prime example of the discrimination and misunderstanding faced by felons in the city.
Merritt, 34, struggles with both mental health issues and drug addition. He's been in the jail since June, booked in under a parole hold for burglary and rape charges in 2008, according to court documents and the Minnehaha County Jail booking log.
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While out, he struggled with the deaths of some of his loved ones. At one point, he even tried to take his own life. When he survived, he tried to seek help from The Link in Sioux Falls, a community triage center that opened in 2001 and focuses on addiction and mental health help.
Unfortunately, Merritt was turned away, though the reason is unclear.
He eventually stopped checking in with his parole agent and became an absconder. Police arrested him after his girlfriend made a report he had stolen her car.
The 34-year-old is from Fort Thompson, his closest parole office for accountability, if he decided to go back home, would be in Huron. Merritt said finding safe housing and a job would be hard around the influence of some of the people he grew up with on the reservation.
Unbeknownst to Merritt, the Huron parole office actually closed in late 2020, according to Winder.
That makes Sioux Falls home to Merritt, and it's where he wants to change his life, he said. But before that happens, the parole absconder needs to beat his drug addiction and in turn be treated for his mental health issues.
“I'm crying for help, I need this help. I've been wanting this help, but I'm sitting in jail,” Merritt said.
Merritt’s latest charges involve absconding, drug possession and a stolen vehicle. His worry is that he won’t be helped once in the system, and will come out some time later totally unchanged, just like the countless other people arrested in Sioux Falls for a variety of crimes while also being classified as parole absconders.
“They don’t see the good in me, they want to judge me based off my addiction,” Merritt said.
