Jon Hansen holds up the approval of the new South Dakota State Penitentiary due to prison transgender care

Pierre, SD (KELO.com) — A new twist in the prison debate, involving the transgender issue. State House Speaker and Gubernatorial candidate Jon Hansen says the Department of Corrections has been using tax dollars to provide transgender cross-sex hormones to convicted criminals in prison. He accuses the DOC of hiding the transgender policy from the public and says he’s a “no” on prison construction plans until that stops. Governor Rhoden says he also opposes spending the money on transgender treatments but says the state’s hands are tied because the issue is being decided in federal court.