New Report Details Crumbling Prisons in St. Cloud, Stillwater

ST. PAUL (WJON News) -- A new report from the Minnesota Office of the Ombuds for Corrections is recommending the residential units at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud either be rehabilitated or replaced.

The report says Minnesota prisons are crumbling with leaky roofs, flooding, falling bricks, and other safety hazards.

Both MCF-St. Cloud and MCF-Stillwater have tiers of stacked, open front cells four or five stories high that were built more than 100 years ago.

The report lists every facility in the Minnesota DOC has significant needs.

A 2014 study of the St. Cloud prison replacement came in at a cost of $400-million. However, due to inflation, the cost today is closer to $730-million.

If the state would only address immediate safety and security needs at the St. Cloud facility, the cost would be an estimated $71-million.