As the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater is in the beginning phases of closure, corrections officials are experimenting with an alternative community living setup, testing “Earned Living Unit” in the newly-opened areas of the prison.
The first phase of the MCF-Stillwater closure began October 1st, reducing the Stillwater incarcerated population by approximately 60% from more than 1,200 earlier this year through transfers. In January, more than 1,200 inmates were at the 111-year-old prison. Since then, the department has moved nearly 750 people, mostly to the Rush City and Lino Lakes prisons.
The transfers mark the start of a sweeping, years-long realignment of Minnesota’s prison system, an effort launched after a 2025 budget deal between Governor Tim Walz and the Legislature that set the Stillwater closure in motion. The plan is expected to save about $40 million while tackling the state’s deteriorating prison infrastructure, staffing shortages and overcrowding. The state plans to close MCF-Stillwater by June 30, 2029.
The transformed space is an “earned living unit,” or ELU, that trades privileges for accountability. Since the unit opened about two months ago, multiple staff and residents said, the unit has not faced a lockdown. The new system gathers together men who the Minnesota Department of Corrections believes are taking their sentence and rehabilitation seriously. If chosen for the program, the men get to live in a cell without a cellmate, move more freely between work and recreational activities and pitch their own rehab ideas. The DOC says Earned Living Units require fewer staff, create a safer prison environment and lower the risk of reoffending.
Two men have already started an herb garden in an empty cell. Joseph Soltis helped open a barber shop. The shop provides job skills, a gathering place and fresh cuts. He said the barber shop has been a dream of his for years. “If you can dream it, it can happen,” Soltis said. “This is proof.”
“It has been a complete 180 in thought process, going from the old Stillwater to the new Stillwater. But it’s very, very rewarding,” Lt. Sam Marks said. In addition to overseeing the new housing system, Marks also supervises the chapel and a book club. He said he’s impressed by the initiative of the incarcerated men. Last month they held a town hall of sorts and drafted a mission statement and 11 core values they want to live by.
Read more about the Earned Living Unit at MCF-Stillwater in “Inside a Closing Minnesota Prison, a Radical Shift in How Inmates Live” at the Governing website. Governing provides news, analysis and insights for the people who lead, manage and direct public agencies as they work towards well-managed, vibrant and resilient communities.
