| Location | Faribault, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | minimum–medium |
| Population | 2,007 (as of August 16, 2010) |
| Opened | 1989 |
| Managed by | Minnesota Department of Corrections |
| Director | Bruce Reiser, Warden |
The Minnesota Correctional Facility – Faribault is a state prison located in Faribault, Minnesota. As of August, 2010, it had an adult inmate population of about 2,000 men,[1] making it the largest prison in Minnesota by population.
The prison was established in 1989 on the 140-acre (0.57 km2) campus of a former state mental hospital.[2] Between 2005 and 2008, the Minnesota legislature funded a $129 million expansion and modernization program, which included the construction of four new 416-bed living units.[3][4][5] The prison's medium-security inmates are now primarily housed within these four large "K" buildings, so called because each building consists of four wings in a "K" configuration around a central control rotunda, with each two-story wing capable of housing 104 inmates in two-bunk cells.
The expansion of the Faribault prison was a primary cause of the state's decreased reliance upon a private prison in Appleton, Minnesota.[6] Corrections Corporation of America closed the 1,600-bed Appleton prison in 2010.[7][8]
MCF-Faribault has educational facilities for GED and adult basic education, and provides education in construction trades such as flooring, drywall, and woodworking. The facility also houses a MINNCOR prison industry facility providing contract labor to outside vendors as well as a line of institutional and library furniture. The 180 bed "New Dimensions" chemical dependency treatment program provides a year long treatment program for alcohol and other drug dependent offenders. The minimum security unit, outside of the main prison's medium-security double fence, provides housing and supervision for community work crews.