Lawsuit in 2022 overdose death offers window into drug problem in state prisons

Lawsuit in 2022 overdose death offers window into drug problem in state prisons

The South Dakota State Penitentiary, pictured on March 27, 2024. (Photo by John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)Jordan Ward isn’t one of the eight men killed by an overdose in a South Dakota prison in 2025, but a lawsuit filed this year over his 2022 death in custody offers insight into how drugs sometimes make their way into the hands of inmates. The case also points to the impact of losing a loved one inside an institution obligated to protect t…