Just before Thanksgiving, on Wednesday, Nov. 24, the Governor’s office issued a press release stating that interim Secretary of Corrections Tim Reisch will be stepping down effective Dec. 8. The current Deputy Secretary of Corrections and acting Warden of the State Penitentiary, Doug Clark, will replace Reisch as interim secretary.
Clark is a graduate of LeSueur High School and attended both Gustavus Adolphus College and University of Sioux Falls.
He began work as a guard at the SD Penitentiary in 1994.
In 2008, he became the director of field operations of Parole Services.
In 2015 he was appointed executive director of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles. He represented South Dakota on the Interstate Commission for Adult Offender Supervision (ICAOS), including serving as chair of the ICAOS Rules Committee and on the ICAOS Executive Committee.
In 2019 he began working as the Deputy Secretary of the DOC. He has worked as interim warden at the prison in Sioux Falls since July of this year while concurrently continuing his role as deputy secretary. Doug Clark and his wife Tana Clark are Garretson residents.
“We are tremendously grateful to General Reisch for stepping in during a time of great need for DOC. Doug also stepped up and steered the Penitentiary through a challenging period,” said Gov. Kristi Noem.
This past summer was a time of shakeup and upheaval for the Department of Corrections. After allegations of sexual misconduct and nepotism at at the State Penitentiary, the Warden Darin Young and Deptuy Wardern Jennifer Dreiske were fired this past July. Corrections Secretary Mike Leidholt was placed on administrative leave and annonced his resignation and early retirement in August. Rien Fitzpatrick, a guard, was indicted by a Minnehaha County grand jury on a charge of committing sexual acts prohibited between prison employees and prisoners.
Gov. Noem also announced last Wednesday the appointment of a new warden, Daniel Sullivan. Sullivan has served many correctional roles throughout his 23-year career with the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Sullivan also served nearly 10 years in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
