Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights (MCF-OPH) is Minnesota's only
Level Five maximum security prison Maximum security prisons and supermax prisons are grades of high security level used by prison systems in various countries, which pose a higher level of security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is ...
. The facility is located near the cities of
Bayport and
Stillwater. The facility is designed and employed with trained
security officers
A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) from a variety ...
to handle not only Minnesota's high-risk inmates but other states' as well. They also have the largest contract to house federal inmates with serious, violent histories. The prison has never had an
escape
Escape or Escaping may refer to:
Computing
* Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation
** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...
, and only one homicide.
History
The prison was designed by New York-based Gruzen & Partners with Minnesota-based Winsor/Faricy Architects, and was featured in the April 1980 issue of ''
Progressive Architecture'', then the largest magazine on architecture.
["City under sod: Minnesota High Security Correctional Facility, Oak Park Heights, Mn" models, floorplans, site plan) Progressive Architecture, Vol. 61, No. 4, pp. 156-157, April 1980.]
Frank Wood, the warden of
Stillwater prison, offered input for the plan. Wood was also the first warden of the prison from 1982 until 1996 when he retired. His deputy, James Bruton, became the warden from 1996 until 2001. Constructed in 1981 and opened in 1982 at a cost of $31.5million, Oak Park Heights is home to approximately 481 offenders. According to the
Minnesota Department of Corrections, the prison's nine complexes are "specialized uniquely to help facilitate a safe, secure, and humane environment for the offenders incarcerated as well as the staff who work at Oak Park Heights".
Constructed in 1981, MCF-OPH is the state's only Level-Five (Maximum) Custody Level prison for men, with an inmate population just under 350. The facility is home to some of the state's most violent offenders, as well as many out-of-state commits and a few federal inmates.
Design
The prison is architecturally designed into the side of a hill to accommodate 481 offenders on a site, which is connected by two corridors on separate levels. One of the corridors is used only for the staff, while the other corridor is used primarily for offenders and staff traffic, while the other of this site are securely fenced in, with a large courtyard and
baseball field
A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refers ...
in the center. Inmate cells measure . Each cell contains a bed, table, toilet, and sink. The bed is a cement slab topped by a thin mattress. The toilet and sink are made of steel so they can't be broken. Each cell also has one rectangular window that's tall and thin. It is too narrow to escape through if the inmate could break the reinforced glass, and tests have proven it would take approximately twelve thousand
hacksaw blades to cut through the steel bars of the prison. Not only does the prison provide a courtyard with a baseball field, but also includes an administration building, a religious resource room, gymnasium, security control center, staffed training fitness area, warehouses, a loading dock, and indoor
firing range.
The prison is composed of nine self-sustaining living units, referred to as complexes. The first six complexes each house 52 offenders and include shower facilities and a common area used for recreation and meals. Offenders in these complexes range from those serving segregation time, to those who are in education toward a
GED
The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a group of four subject tests which, when passed, provide certification that the test taker has United States or Canadian high school-level academic skills. It is an alternative to the US high ...
, or working full-time in the facility as cooks, janitors, painters, or workers in the institution's industry units. MCF-OPH is home to the Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissary program. Inmates who qualify for these work programs are employed to process and package commissary orders from the other state correctional facilities.
Two of the three remaining complexes house the mental health unit (MHU) and the transitional care unit (TCU). The MHU and TCU both handle inmates from the entire Minnesota DOC who require the unique services of those units. The TCU serves inmates who need
intensive nursing care, such as postsurgical care, and also serves as a hospice. The MHU works with individuals who are in a mental health crisis or individuals who have been civilly committed as
mentally ill in addition to their criminal commitment.
The ninth unit, completed in 2001, is the state's administrative control unit (ACU), sometimes referred to as "Super-Seg". It houses the most violent offenders in an environment nearly completely free of physical contact with staff. Many of the offenders in the ACU have attempted to assault prison staff, or have engaged in a deadly assault on another inmate. Each cell is a self-contained living unit that includes sink, toilet, and shower. Each cell is accessed through two sets of doors, creating a
sally port for each cell. Offenders are typically given access to an exercise room that is open to outside air for one hour each day.
The MCF-OPH facility, together with the H Unit of
Oklahoma State Penitentiary
The Oklahoma State Penitentiary, nicknamed "Big Mac", is a prison of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections located in McAlester, Oklahoma, on . Opened in 1908 with 50 inmates in makeshift facilities, today the prison holds more than 750 male off ...
in
McAlester, Oklahoma, was featured in a one-hour TV documentary titled "Maximum Security Prisons", produced by Alan Hall (
Beyond Productions
Beyond International Limited is an international television and film production company with operations in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (), the company is involved ...
) for the "On the Inside" series of the
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
.
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
has also produced an episode of ''
America's Hardest Prisons
''Lockdown'' is a television series appearing on the National Geographic Channel. The series is an educational look into prisons and jails in the United States, presented in a documentary format. ''Lockdown'' is known in some regions as ''Americ ...
'' on the Oak Park Heights Facility.
Security
Security in each complex is controlled from a two-story security glassed-in "bubble" that allows officers to open and close doors throughout the unit on both cell blocks and in the programming space on the level above the cell blocks. While the electronic controls in the bubble were state of the art in 1982, they were due to be replaced in 2010 with modern computer controlled updates. Another system that was to be updated in 2010 is the vibration sensors on the exterior fence. The original fence used high tech vibration sensing technology from Israel that is no longer manufactured or supported.
Because each complex is sectioned off from the rest of the prison by a bubble controlled sally port, only small numbers of offenders can enter the hallway connecting the complexes at any one time. The hallway itself has large steel "sliders" that can quickly close off each section of hallway should a complex need to be isolated.
The "yard" is fully within the walls of the prison, and armed officers patrol the top of the walls whenever prisoners are out. Outside of the prison building is a field surrounded by a double set of fences topped with
razor wire
Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term "razor wire", through long usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products. Razor wire is much sharper th ...
. No prisoner has ever escaped.
Notable inmates
Current
*Michael John Anderson (born 1988), convicted in the
murder of Katherine Ann Olson
*Byron David Smith (born 1948), convicted of killing
Haile Kifer and Nicholas Brady
Former
*
Donald Blom
Donald Albin Blom (February 5, 1949 – January 10, 2023) was an American convicted of the murder of Katie Poirier in 1999. A registered sex offender involved in five cases of kidnapping and sexual assault prior to Poirier's murder, he was suspec ...
(1949-2023), convicted in the murder of Katie Poirier
*
Christopher John Boyce (born 1953), former defense industry worker convicted of espionage; served some of his sentence at MC-OPH; released in 2002
*
Derek Chauvin
Derek Michael Chauvin ( ; born March 19, 1976) is an American former police officer who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin was a member of the Minneapolis Police ...
(born 1976), former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the
murder of George Floyd
On , George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was murdered in the U.S. city of Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's n ...
*John Jason McLaughlin (born 1988), perpetrator of the
Rocori High School shooting
The Rocori High School shooting was a school shooting that occurred at Rocori High School on September 24, 2003 in Cold Spring, Minnesota, United States. The shooter was identified as 15 year-old freshman John Jason McLaughlin, who murdered 14-ye ...
*
Richard Lee McNair
Richard Lee McNair (born December 19, 1958) is a convicted murderer known for his ability to escape and elude capture. In 1987, McNair murdered one man and shot a second man four times during a botched robbery. He is currently serving two terms o ...
(born 1958), murderer known for escaping three prisons
*Mohamed Noor (born 1985), former Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing
Justine Damond; served some of his sentence at MCF-OPH; released in 2022
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*
John Paul Scott
John Paul Scott (January 3, 1927 – February 22, 1987) was an American criminal who is noted as the only escapee from Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary known to have reached the San Francisco shore by swimming. He was recaptured almost immediately ...
(1927-1987), bank robber known for escaping
Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary
*
Paul Michael Stephani
Paul Michael Stephani (September 8, 1944 – June 12, 1998) was an American serial killer. He was also known as the Weepy-Voiced Killer due to a series of telephone calls he made to police, anonymously reporting his crimes in a remorseful and hig ...
(1944-1998), serial killer; died of skin cancer
References
External links
Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights
Oak Park Heights
Buildings and structures in Washington County, Minnesota
1982 establishments in Minnesota