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Stillwater prison is an 111-year-old facility with old-fashioned metal bars, no air conditioning in the cells and an estimated $180 million in deferred maintenance costs, but staff and men serving time there say the prison has been reborn.

As part of the prison’s upcoming closure — by June 2029 — the prison population has been cut in half, a substance abuse treatment program and tattoo parlor have had the room to expand and about 150 staff are transferring to other facilities.

But the biggest change is a new housing system called Earned Living Units. 

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. Stillwater prison’s closure, they say, provided a perfect opportunity to pilot the program.

Two men have already started an herb garden in an empty cell and 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.”

He said these new Earned Living Units mean both more personal responsibility and more freedom.

“A lot of people think that you earned your way in. No, you earn your way every day by your behavior,” he said. “Guys are taking advantage of everything: every different program, every different class.”

Lt. Sam Marks says Earned Living Units encourage personal responsibility. Previously, every moment of the day — when to sleep, when to work, when to leave your cell — was dictated by corrections officers like him.

“The accountability is back on the person that’s incarcerated here. And I think that’s a powerful thing. I don’t think they learn without that,” Marks said.

In addition to overseeing the new housing system, he also supervises the chapel and a book club.

Marks 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. 

Rich Scheibe, who has been serving time in Stillwater throughout its transition, facilitated the discussion.

Scheibe said the value named “Personal Accountability & Integrity” was particularly meaningful to him. It reads: “Recognizing the magnitude of our crimes & having compassion and remorse for the people we hurt — from direct victims & their families, our families/friends, and the community as a whole.”

 “It has been a complete 180 in thought process, going from the old Stillwater to the new Stillwater. But it’s very, very rewarding,” Marks said.

Some of the values “are more robust or serious or hardcore than the ones that are established by the DOC,” said DOC Commissioner Paul Schnell.

Marks is so impressed by Stillwater’s transformation he holds out hope that government officials might change their mind about closing the prison.

“I think we would be doing ourselves a disservice if we didn’t continue down this path, because I see it working and I see the vision.” Marks said.

However, Commissioner Schnell said Stillwater will close by 2029 as scheduled. But he said the plan is to expand the Earned Living program to every prison around the state.

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Cait Kelley

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Stillwater prison is an 111-year-old facility with old-fashioned metal bars, no air conditioning in the cells and an estimated $180 million in deferred maintenance costs. But staff and men serving time there say the prison has been reborn.

A new housing program at soon-to-be-shuttered Stillwater prison is thriving

Cait Kelley | MPR News

Man posing for photo in prison barber shop

A new housing program at soon-to-be-shuttered Stillwater prison is thriving

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