Hotline is a publication of the Minnesota

Department of Corrections. It contains correctional news, upcoming

events, position openings, and other

items of interest to a correctional audience.

For news releases, click here.

The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Faribault has begun destruction of Redwood building. The demolition is part of a three-phase expansion/renovation plan designed to increase staff safety and address the expanding prison population.

Commissioner Joan Fabian has appointed Tracy Beltz to serve as warden of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee, effective October 1, 2008. She succeeds Warden Rick Hillengass, who is retiring. For details, click here.

Warden Patt Adair of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud has received the 2008 Athena Award from the Women's Fund of the Central Minnesota Community Foundation. The award recognizes local women leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity and initiative in their business or profession, and who inspire others to achieve excellence in their personal and professional lives. Adair began her corrections career in 1977 at the women’s prison in Shakopee. She has served as warden at Willow River/Moose Lake and was appointed warden at St. Cloud in 1995.

Minnesota Department of Corrections' officers and law enforcement from across the nation provided assistance at the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Nearly 50,000 people visited the Twin Cities for the event. DOC staff worked with traffic/crowd control and served as delivery escorts before and during the convention. For more photos, click here.

The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Shakopee opened a new addition to the Monahan living unit at the end of August. The $5.375 million project added 92 beds and will provide programming space for group therapy and chemical dependency treatment. The addition also helps house a growing number of female offenders, increasing the facility's capacity to 641.

A handbook is now available to help counties, courts and correctional/criminal justice agencies evaluate which of the three different community supervision delivery systems may work best for them and how best to implement a change in their system, if they should choose. This comprehensive guide, The Delivery Systems Change Process, originated through a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Corrections and Scott County with participation from Minnesota’s three correctional delivery systems.

Commemorate Minnesota's 150 years of statehood with the new sesquicentennial license plates. The plates are now available at all deputy registrar offices. Cost is $35 plus an $8.50 filing fee; $25 of the cost is a minimum, one-time donation to the Sesquicentennial Commission. License plates and tabs are produced at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City as part of an inmate work program.

     For more information about the Minnesota Sesquicentennial and planned events, visit www.mn150years.org/.

Department of Corrections' staff joined with communities for National Night Out on August 5, 2008. Correctional officers demonstrated fingerprinting and handcuffing techniques to those in attendance and staff answered questions about the department and facilities. National Night Out strives to bring neighbors together with law enforcement to create safer communities for everyone.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has released the Minnesota Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Initiative Final Report.  A 44-member interagency advisory task force, formed as part of the initiative, studied issues impacting justice-involved youth with mental health or co-occurring disorders.  Its findings and recommendations are found in this report. 

Warden John King of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Stillwater talks with a member of the media about the July 16, 2008, opening of a new segregation unit at the facility.The unit was designed to enhance security and safety features. Funding was appropriated by the 2006 legislature. For more information about the new unit, click here.

The Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Red Wing, the department's juvenile facility, held a Celebration of Excellence ceremony July 11, 2008. The ceremony recognized approximately 20 residents who earned a high school diploma or GED. Those who made the honor roll or earned certificates in vocational programs were also acknowledged.

     State Senator Steve Murphy and Representative Denny McNamara addressed residents at the celebration. The two were honored for their support of the MCF-Red Wing.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections has named Roman George as 2008 Agent of the Year. George supervises offenders in Phase II of the department's Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP).  For more information about George's selection, click here.

For more information about CIP, click here.

The Department of Corrections has released Minnesota Prison Population Projections Report - Fiscal Year 2008.  Minnesota's prison population has increased fourfold over the last two decades.  Though populations continue to grow, current projections indicate a slower growth rate than in previous years.

The 2007 Probation Survey is now available.  This document, completed annually by the Minnesota Department of Corrections, is a compilation of probation data from all Minnesota counties.

During the early morning hours of June 12, heavy rains flooded the southeastern community of Austin, Minnesota. With water rising throughout the day, finding help was critical.  

     Seven Sentencing to Service (STS) crews were summoned to assist with sandbagging work. Crews responded from the counties of Mower, Olmsted, Fillmore, Freeborn, Rice, Faribault and Martin.

     The STS crews worked at various sites around the city to protect the downtown area and residential properties. The sandbagging efforts were successful in preventing damage to vital areas of the city.

The Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes held its offender Transitions Fair on June 17, 2008.

     The annual fair provides offenders, nearing their release from prison, with connections and support in the community. Thirty-two agencies set up booths and distributed information about employment, education, counseling, and more. These connections can greatly improve an offender’s chance of successfully reentering society and remaining crime-free.

     Employers and volunteers were on hand to answer questions and provide guidance to the approximately 330 offenders who attended the Transitions Fair.

Megan's Law in Minnesota: The Impact of Community Notification on Sex Offender Recidivism, a research report of the Minnesota Department of Corrections, examines the state's three-tiered notification system that has been law since 1997.

Spring cleaning of Minnesota roadways is underway with the help of offender work crews and Adopt-a-Highway volunteers. Governor Tim Pawlenty announced the fourth annual Operation Clean-Up to pick up litter along the state’s highways through September.

     Since 2005, the Minnesota Departments of Corrections (DOC) and Transportation (MnDOT) have worked together on Operation Clean-Up.  The DOC provides both state work crews and coordination of county Sentencing to Service (STS) crews, who are utilized along the state’s most highly-traveled highways. More than 95,000 offender hours have been dedicated to cleaning roadways across the state since Operation Clean-Up began. This year, offenders will work an estimated 35,000 hours. Minimum-security prison inmates on Institution/Community Work Crews (ICWC) are also assisting with the clean-up effort.

     STS and ICWC offenders work on a variety of community improvement projects including litter pick-up, river clean-up, trail development, and graffiti removal.  Crews also prepare for and clean up after floods and severe storms.