BAYPORT, Minn. — The incident Sunday where 100 inmates refused to go back to their cells is something that's happened before, according to Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell.
But it's now drawing attention to how staffing problems are affecting conditions in the prison.
About three dozen activists marched outside the Stillwater Prison Monday, cheered on by inmates inside the prison walls hollering through their windows, over conditions caused in large part by staffing issues that have affected all aspects of law enforcement over the last few years. Among prisons, it's a lack of correctional officers, and activists and Schnell agree it's leading to issues.
"We do understand that. And this is an issue in Minnesota and in every state across the nation," Schnell said.
Schnell said there is a 14% vacancy rate among correctional officers in Minnesota, accounting for 50 open positions at the Stillwater prison.
And when staffing is further reduced by vacations during holiday weekends, for example, Schnell says they cope by not allowing inmates to move around as much as usual. This often comes in the form of modified lockdowns, and that's what led to 100 inmates protesting Sunday by refusing to return to their cells from the common area.
"They were telling me how they had been on lockdown for the last two days and they just could not go back into that cell," said Marvina Haynes of Minnesota Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform.
The inmates also complain about the quality of the drinking water and the lack of air conditioning in the 109-year-old facility.
Schnell says the temperature in the cells reaches into the 80s.
The activists say the conditions are inhumane.
"It's not right. They deserve the free time. They deserve to take showers. They deserve to have water that's good for them and ice to keep their bodies cold," one protester said.
Since the incident Sunday, there have been lawmakers on both sides of the aisle expressing support for installing air conditioning at the prison — not just for the inmates' sake, but for attracting workers as well.
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