The Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Corrections is defending the plan to close the Stillwater Prison, even as Senate Republicans call for a public hearing on the matter.
At the end of last legislative session, it was announced that the facility in Stillwater would be closed by June 2029 through a phased process.
Republican leaders say the closure was a last-minute add, and without a chance to get input from the public. Now, they want a public hearing to be held as inmates are already being moved out of the 111-year-old facility they determined was crumbling and not worth fixing.
Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell says the idea of closing the facility is not new.
"And the Office of the Legislative Auditor in 2020 recommended that the legislature begin to look at what to do with these facilities, and begin to think about planning for replacement," Schnell tells WCCO Radio's Susie Jones.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, the Commissioner said they began briefings with lawmakers last week.
"The DOC held a private legislative briefing with key lawmakers on August 6 and will continue to offer these briefings on a monthly basis," the statement reads. "Should public legislative hearings be called, the DOC is fully prepared to participate."
The state's corrections commissioner says the proposal to close it passed with bipartisan support and the process is already underway.
"We've already started moving. We started out, like I said, we're just shy of 1,200 people. Now we're at 790," says Commissioner Schnell.
He says they'll continue to move inmates until the end of September, and keep the population at that level until they can find a place for the rest of the population to go.
Schnell does say that could mean expanding another existing facility.
Republican State Senator Warren Limmer is head of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee and says a change like this deserves proper vetting.
Minnesota Governor Walz is on record saying the operational costs of the Stillwater Prison have become "untenable.