The Trump administration’s discussion of using private facilities for federal prisoners comes at a good time for a shuttered western Minnesota prison.
Prairie Correctional Facility in Appleton has been closed for years after state and federal leaders opted to put prisoners in public facilities. Area leaders and their legislators have pushed to reopen the prison, under state control, to ease prison overcrowding.
Earlier this week, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded an Obama administration directive to reduce the reliance on private prisons for federal prisoners.
Democrats have controlled the Senate and governor’s office, and most of them oppose a privately owned prison, even if the state runs it with union workers. However, with Republicans now in control of both legislative chambers, there is more hope. Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, though, still opposes it.
“The Appleton prison proposal was approved by the Minnesota House last year but it fell to the wayside after the Minnesota Senate and Gov. Dayton refused to prioritize it,” Rep. Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg, said. “The state of Minnesota is out of beds for offenders and we have an asset in western Minnesota that can meet those needs.”
State Sen. Andrew Lang, R-Olivia, also is pushing a private prison bill.
“This legislation would bring jobs back to the Appleton area, a community which has experienced economic hardship since the prison’s closing,” Lang said.
Re-opening the prison, closed since 2010, would add 300 jobs in Swift County, the lawmakers say. The prison can hold 1,600 inmates.