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.

May 4-8 is Corrections Employee Recognition Week. Correctional workers are responsible for management of offenders in Minnesota correctional facilities and on community supervision status. This workforce includes officers, agents, nurses, dentists, caseworkers, teachers, support and technology staff, and many other professionals who work to maintain public safety.

Governor Tim Pawlenty and Corrections Commissioner Joan Fabian kicked-off Operation Clean-Up on April 16. This is the fifth year the Departments of Corrections and Transportation have partnered on this governor's initiative. The project uses volunteer and offender work crews to beautify Minnesota roadways. Sentencing to Service and Institution/Community Work Crews from around the state participate in Operation Clean-Up, which runs through September.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Adolfo Perez Esquivel of Argentina participated in the Day of Peace with Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF)-Red Wing residents on March 30. Approximately 140 young men housed at the facility interacted with Esquivel about his experiences as a peacemaker.  Esquivel focused his remarks around “Breaking the Cycle of Violence – Creating Lasting Peace.”

    The Day of Peace, a collaborative effort between the nonprofit youthrive and the MCF-Red Wing, is sponsored by the Minnesota Departments of Education and Public Safety.

Commissioner Joan Fabian has appointed Eddie Miles to serve as warden of the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Lino Lakes, effective April 15, 2009. He succeeds Warden Robert Feneis, who is retiring. For details, click here.

Sentencing to Service (STS) and Institution/Community Work Crews (ICWC) are assisting with flood prevention efforts across northwestern Minnesota. ICWC and STS crews are filling and laying sandbags in communities along the Red River and other areas to protect homes, businesses and public buildings. Rain and snow showers have made flood prevention work more difficult. Crews from Otter Tail, Douglas, Pope, Clay, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Becker, Roseau, Beltrami and Pennington are involved in the effort. Mike Stoltman, Moorhead district supervisor, is working through local emergency management officials and sheriffs’ departments to determine areas of need and coordinate crew response. For more information about the state's disaster relief and recovery efforts, visit www.MinnesotaRecovers.org.

A citizen looking online at cold case playing cards has led to the identification of the "four of diamonds," Deana Patnode of Inver Grove Heights, who disappeared in 1982. Her remains were found in Kellogg in 1986. Investigators are now treating the case as a homicide. The cold case cards are an initiative of the Minnesota departments of Corrections and Public Safety unveiled in October 2008. The cards highlight unsolved homicide, missing person, and unidentified remains cases. To see all of the cases, click here.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is asking the public to vote on eight designs for the new critical habitat license plate. Four winners will be chosen. The new designs include a ladyslipper, a fishing scene, a white-tailed buck, a pheasant in flight, a black-capped chickadee, a walleye, a pair of loons, and a woodduck. Click here to view the designs.

     The prison industry program at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City produces the state's license plates. The proposed designs take advantage of the flat plate printing technology that allows photographs to be used as license plate art. The critical habitat license plate program provides Minnesotans an opportunity to contribute to conservation. The program is a cooperative effort of the DNR, the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Corrections.

In February, nearly 80 offenders at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Moose Lake participated in a job skills workshop featuring Liz Reyer, president of Reyer Coaching & Consulting and contributor to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Reyer told attendees that preparation is key to success on the outside. She shared tips on addressing criminal history during an interview. Offenders also had an opportunity to practice their job interviewing techniques during a role-playing exercise. Many of the attendees have completed pre-release classes and are preparing to transition into the community.

Frank W. Wood, state corrections commissioner from 1993-1996, died February 28, 2009. Mr. Wood devoted nearly four decades of service to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, starting in 1959 as a correctional officer and rising through the ranks to head the agency. Along the way, he served as warden at the Stillwater and Oak Park Heights correctional facilities and was deputy commissioner of the facilities division. He retired in 1996. He was a mentor to staff and inmates, recognizing the value in every human being.

     Mr. Wood, age 70, was diagnosed with cancer five years ago. He demonstrated great strength, courage and resiliency as he lived with that diagnosis.

The Offender Restorative Justice Committee at the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Rush City recently held a fundraiser and donated $205 to the Rush City Food Shelf. Pictured are (L to R): James Fields, Shakur Al-Hakim, Rush City Food Shelf representative Carolyn Thiel, and Orson Matlock. Restorative justice is a framework that engages victims, offenders and the community in repairing the harm caused by crime.

MCF-Moose Lake recognized Restorative Justice Week in a variety of ways. The mother of a murder victim talked with offenders about the impact of crime, and the director of Minnesotans for Safe Driving discussed safety on the roads. Offenders also performed a skit, The Parable of a Cave, about a man who attempts to break free of negative patterns. Restorative justice engages victims, offenders and the community in repairing some of the harm caused by crime.

The Minnesota Corrections Association (MCA) Fall Institute was held in Duluth October 29-31. This year, MCA celebrated its 75-year anniversary. The three-day training event also recognized individuals and programs for their contributions to Minnesota corrections. Several Department of Corrections' staff won awards: Faribault Warden Connie Roehrich Corrections Person of the Year; Special Investigator Joyce Knowlton Professional Achievement Award; and MINNCOR Industries EMPLOY Program President's Award. For more pictures, click here. For a full list of award recipients, click here.

     The Association has also published a timeline of crime, corrections, and MCA, which is available on MCA's website.

In October, the Institution/Community Work Crew (ICWC) from the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Red Wing completed work on a universal playground in Red Wing. Universal playgrounds are designed to be accessible to all children, including those with disabilities. The project was a community effort with donated materials and labor from the city and residents. It is now the state’s largest outdoor playground.

     ICWC puts carefully selected, minimum-security inmates to work in the community under supervision. To learn more about the program, click here.

In September, a mock-hostage training was held at the Anoka Regional Treatment Center for Department of Corrections’ staff. Participants included the department’s Special Operations Response Teams, Special Operations Groups, Marksmen/Observers Teams, Crisis Negotiator Teams, associate wardens and others. Approximately 140 staff participated in the day-long scenario.