Minnesota will close Stillwater prison, state's second-largest correctional facility

Minnesota will shut down the state's aging Stillwater prison facility by 2029, a move that will lead to lay offs among 565 staff members and require the state to find new places for nearly 1,200 inmates, per a budget agreement struck by Gov. Tim Walz and the Legislature.

Built in 1914, Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater, which is technically located in Bayport, is the state's second-oldest prison. Staff and inmates have long complained about its dated infrastructure that makes the building costly to maintain. In 2023, about 100 people incarcerated in the facility staged a protest over clean water, some saying they were forced to use socks to strain out rust, along with oppressive heat and no air conditioning.

"I think we owe them 2025 conditions," said State Rep. Paul Novotny, R-Elk River, who co-chairs the House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee. "There's much better ways. I don't know how to even describe it if you've never been there."

Novotny has advocated on the floor several times for the closure of the prison and said it's a humanitarian issue for both inmates and corrections officers. He said the prison is sweltering in the summer and can be deafeningly loud. It's also falling apart.

"There's $160 million in outdated maintenance," Novotny said. "It's hard to tell from the front, but if you go back to the back ... you can see the grout lines in the bricks and the main footings and you just go, 'Oh my God. I didn't know a concrete building could bend like that.'"

State Correctional officers and their union representatives have planned a news conference Friday morning to demand a stop to the planned closure, in what they called an "unacceptable budget gimmick."

"This is not just a prison—it is a vital institution in Minnesota's corrections system," Bart Andersen, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 5, said in a statement. "The proposed closure of the Stillwater Correctional Facility undoubtedly puts lives on the line, overcrowds other facilities, destabilizes our system, and may unjustly displace hundreds of dedicated workers and their families."

During a media briefing Thursday, Walz noted that beyond budgetary and infrastructure reasons, this was the right political moment to try and close the prison.

"This was a savings area…we have the capacity inside the system to house these individuals in the other correctional facilities, Oak Park Heights and others," he said. "It probably was one of those moments that you needed a budget like this and you needed a split Legislature to have the will to do a big thing like this."

Department of Corrections [DOC] Commissioner Paul Schnell said the process to move inmates would be considered on an individual basis — including bed availability, security considerations and the physical and mental health of the inmate.

"We do have some thoughts about what the housing could look like," Schnell said, adding that inmates will have no say in the process. He gave an example that Lino Lakes is the largest DOC facility for substance abuse and sex offender treatment and those types of programs would be considered for transfers.

"We would really look at what [the inmates] needs are, what their outdates are, all of those things would be factored into this as we make those decisions about placement."

Schnell said it will take weeks before the first transfer is considered and the budget agreement made clear no one would be released early because of the closure. The potential for double bunking inmates in single rooms is already being done throughout the DOC and will be considered in transfers.

State Rep. Josiah Hill, DFL-Stillwater, called the prison's planned closure "a difficult development to process in the final hours of session."

"While there is no question that the facility was in unacceptable condition that endangered both correctional staff and incarcerated persons, there is also no question that it is an integral piece to the fabric and history of our community," Hill said. "In the coming days, I will focus on working with the employees as they prepare to transition, to ensure that they and their families are fully supported and cared for. I will also work closely with the DOC to guarantee the safety and well-being of each and every incarcerated person in the Stillwater facility; their dignity and humanity must be a top priority and should not suffer due to the decades-long underinvestment in the facility and the resulting need to shutter it."

Crumbling infrastructure

Stillwater staff have raised alarms about security vulnerabilities in a facility that has poor sightlines and relies on century-old manual locking mechanisms. In the past four years, the state has spent more than $8 million preserving the facility, and closing it will save the state a projected $40 million, according to figures from the Department of Corrections.

But in the state's current carceral ecosystem, it plays a critical function: It's Minnesota's largest close-security facility, a step below maximum-security. With a population of 1,206 as of this month, and a capacity for 1,600, it's the second-largest prison in the state.

A recent report from the Minnesota Office of the Ombuds for Corrections singled out Stillwater as part of a crisis in the state's "crumbling" prison buildings, noting the facility "needs such significant updating and investments that closing the facility must be seriously considered." The antiquated prison is not equipped to handle a population that is rapidly aging and in many cases requires special attention for chronic illness, mental health issues, substance use disorders and disabilities, the report found.

The report recommended reducing the prison population through early release, including medical, elder or work release programs, and utilizing workhouses in Hennepin and Ramsey counties. A 2020 report from the Legislative Audit found both Stillwater and St. Cloud prisons were so outdated the facilities presented safety concerns. "At some point, the state will have to substantially reinvest in these prisons if it is to keep using them," the report said.

Before a spate of early inmate releases in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Minnesota's prison system faced overcrowding that sometimes led to doubling up in cells meant for one person, a consequence of decades of increased criminal penalties at the Legislature in an era when building new prisons is not politically popular. At the same time, Minnesota lawmakers have voted against capital investment bills that would have provided needed repairs and updated infrastructure, allowing Stillwater and other aging prisons to fall into greater disrepair.

Novotny said there's equal concern over St. Cloud prison, which opened in 1889 and also doesn't have air conditioning. He wouldn't advocate for closing that facility now, because it would cripple the state's available beds for housing inmates.

Recent studies to examine what it would cost to bring Stillwater and St. Cloud prisons to modern standards put the combined cost at $2 billion, Schnell said. He added that states around the country and the federal government are all grappling with the future of incarceration as aging prisons crumble. He said the Federal Prison Camp in Duluth will close soon, as well.

Novotny said the Prairie Correctional Facility, a former private prison in Appleton, Minn. that has 1,600 available beds, should be considered for purchase as a "relief valve." Building a new prison in St. Cloud should be considered, as well, but that process can take up to seven years from start-to-finish.

He felt the phased closing of Stillwater was an appropriate first step in addressing lackluster prison conditions in Minnesota that was long overdue.

"Stillwater and St. Cloud were built around the same time in the same model as Alcatraz," he said. "Alcatraz has been closed for 40 years."

After the Legislature passes the public safety omnibus bill, corrections leadership will spend several months working to reduce the population of the facility, sending half of the inmates to the other nine male facilities. Some staff will stay on to help maintain the remaining living units, but others will be terminated. Prison officials say they plan to work with labor unions "to ensure that the staff impact is as minimal as possible."

The Corrections Department will commission studies to determine how to fully vacate the prison populations and what to do with the site of the facility.

The state plans to fully shut down the prison by June 30, 2029.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.