Officials with the Minnesota Department of Corrections on Wednesday asked for patience from friends and family members of people who are incarcerated at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater while they work out the details of the facility’s pending closure.
“The DOC is committed to ensuring a careful and thoughtful approach that takes the needs and wellbeing of incarcerated persons into consideration,” Commissioner Paul Schnell wrote in a memo posted online.
“This will be a complex process with many moving parts. It is unlike anything the DOC has undertaken before,” the memo continued. “We know you have lots of questions, and we ask for your patience as we navigate this enormous change.”
State leaders in May agreed to a phased closure of the Stillwater prison, citing safety and costly maintenance concerns at the 1914 facility. Plans call for the prison to be shuttered by June 30, 2029.
Reopen Appleton?
After the news of the closure broke, two state legislators sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz and Schnell asking them to “seriously consider” reopening the Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton “as a permanent part of our correctional system.” The medium-security private prison, owned by CoreCivic, closed in 2010.
“The facility has a capacity of 1,600 beds, the same as Stillwater, and could be brought back into use much more efficiently than building a new facility from the ground up,” Sen. Torrey Westrom, R-Alexandria, and Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, wrote in their letter. “This would also result in significant cost savings for taxpayers, as the facility is already well maintained.”
Westrom and Anderson noted that state DOC officials could pursue a number of different options, including a state contract, a long-term lease or even purchasing the facility.
Schnell on Wednesday dismissed that idea, saying that the purchase and operation of the “long-vacant Appleton facility is not regarded as an effective or efficient use of state resources.”
“The phased closure of MCF-Stillwater recognizes the age and condition of the facility and the state’s current fiscal constraints,” Schnell said in a statement. “State and federal prison systems around the country are closing antiquated prisons and consolidating the number of prison sites to maximize efficiency and resource utilization.”
A DOC study conducted in 2017 focused on adding capacity at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault, “which is the most cost-effective option for adding modern correctional facility infrastructure in the future,” Schnell said.
“The Appleton facility presents a range of challenges, including the facility’s location relative to other DOC facilities, the ability to secure sufficient staffing and the cost of training an entirely new staff cadre, purchasing and updating the equipment and supplies needed for daily operations, and the logistical challenges of coordinating shared services across the state’s correctional system,” he concluded.
Mental health services
Westrom and Anderson also noted another option: Using the Appleton prison to expand mental health services should the state not require the full number of prison beds in the future.
“With increasing demand for mental health care across Minnesota, it’s worth exploring how the facility could serve both purposes,” they wrote. “That kind of dual use could help solve two problems at once.”
They also pitched Appleton, located in Swift County, as a great place to live.
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“For correctional staff who may choose to relocate, Appleton offers great outdoor recreation, a lower cost of living, and much more affordable housing than the Twin Cities,” they wrote. “This makes it a strong option for families and workers alike.”
The closure of the MCF–Stillwater, located in Bayport, is expected to be completed in two phases upon passage of the public-safety omnibus bill at the Legislature.
The first phase involves reducing operations and staffing over several months, moving inmates to other prisons, and conducting studies on logistics, closure impacts and the site’s long-term future. During the second phase, which is slated to begin in July 2027, the site will be vacated. Full closure is expected by June 30, 2029.
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