The Minnesota Department of Corrections has announced they are closing Stillwater Prison. They cite economic, health and safety reasons.
They do not intend to build a new prison but to spread the inmates to the State's other 9 facilities. They also expect to reduce staff, however it should be pointed out that there is already a severe shortage of Corrections Officers in Minnesota and overcrowding in most prisons and jails.
Short staffing is already a major safety issue for staff and inmates.
As a retired Detention Deputy from Hennepin County I remember a time that the State had an overcrowding situation and dumped inmates near the end of their sentences into County Jails. This created a logistical nightmare of keeping convicted inmates separated from pre-trial inmates and the angry State inmates who didn't have the programs they were accustomed to in prison. The State also paid a very low daily rate to the County to house their inmates pushing the cost onto the County taxpayers.
Let's hope the State doesn't do that again, but I doubt they thought that far ahead.
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