By Andee Flohr

Rebecca had worked for a time in nursing, started a family, and earned herself a job as a Regional Manager for a retail chain. “Then I ended up getting a few DWIs and that’s what brought me to prison,” she says.

With a 66-month sentence, “I knew I was going to be here for quite a while, and I wanted to do something with my time here. I didn’t want to just—for lack of a better statement—just sit around and do nothing,” says Rebecca. “I wanted to have something to show for my time here.”

The full article can be read here.

By Lisa Jahn

I have worked for the DOC Since March of 1996. I began my career at MCF-Redwing as a CO. My time at Red Wing was short, about 9 months before transferring to MCF-Shakopee where I remained. As I reflect on these years, I think about all the wonderful people I have met over these years. When I was at Red Wing I worked with juvenile offenders. That is when I looked at this job as an adventure. No day would ever be the same. Working with the juveniles was a great experience. I made many friends and found it hard to leave the great staff at Red Wing. I still laugh when I think about Stan Barber, Lloyd, and Morrie. These three took time to talk to me about the importance of my job and told me funny stories about all their years in corrections. I laughed every day I worked there.

December of 1996, I transferred to Shakopee. Now I would be working with the women. At the academy, the instructors always said “this applies to the men's prisons. Shakopee and Red Wing are different." WOW were they right. There were many rules and exceptions for the female population vs. the male population. I think back to offenders wearing their own clothing, buying lots of Avon products, having courtyard blankets for them to sit on, taking offenders shopping at the local K Mart, taking offenders to off grounds jobs sites, we had offenders take furloughs which they would call in to tell me they were ok, and staff and offenders could go outside for a smoke. Well, many things have changed over the years. Eventually the female's prison would get more in line with the rules and policies of the male prisons. In 1996 there were about 125 offenders. As the years went by the population grew to over 600. We were overcrowded and had to house some of the population in County Jails and the federal prison in Waseca. When COVID hit that cleared our population down to around 400.

Over the years in Shakopee, I have worked a variety of positions. I began on a relief pool. We filled in the vacation slots. Working relief meant you worked any day and any shift. We knew our schedule about a month in advance no set days off. I did this for four and a half years. I then worked 2nd watch Monahan – the treatment unit. I was on squad for about six years. What a great group of people to work with. Then I moved to transportation in 2011 where I'm still at. I must say this has been the best position I have worked. A career highlight was working with central transport to pick up violators in other states. The best part of working in transportation has been Sgt. Yackly and my partners. I have so much respect for all of them. They are professional, hardworking, and great people. I know every day I have laughed while at work. One of the most important things in Corrections is to surround yourself with good people and laugh every day. This is a crazy job, people in the real world can't understand the things we deal with. You have to find a way to make sense of these unusual events you will encounter. I relied on great partners and laughter. Best wishes to all of you!

By Kurt Hoehne

After 27 years, the Marshall District Office received new MN DOC highway signage. You can view the before and after photos below.

Before updated sign

After updated sign

By Captain Nate Bartz

On June 7, Lt. Reineccius began her new position as 1st Watch Commander. Diane has many years of experience in uniform as she started her career as a CO at Rush City. Diane also has non-uniform experience as an OSI Special and Lead at the Moose Lake Facility.

Welcome back to Rush City Lt. Reineccius!

By Sherlinda Wheeler

OPH would like to give a Big Shout out to Sherry Bohn, Sarah Costello, Shelli Monio, Nick Witter, Melissa Schwartz, and Leigh McCoy (STW) for their emergency help in the OPH Mailroom. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

By Sherlinda Wheeler

OPH would like to give a Big Shout out to Steve Mikutowski, Jim Frawley, Dan Dunaski, Steve Bower, Elise Moore, Vince Roth, and Kurt Heideman for all your emergency help with our fence project.

By Shannon Van Alstine

I'd like to give a shout out to Supervisor, Kelley Blake.

I was in a time-crunch to get an important document to the courts. My supervisor was on vacation, and her coverage was also out of the office. Kelley is the ISR supervisor, so she doesn't work directly with me. Kelley was able to get the approvals I needed so I could get my document to the courts in a timely fashion. She offered to help, knowing it wasn't her responsibility.

Thank you Kelley for going above and beyond, being kind and quick to action! You made my day!!

By Christen Donley

I'm sending this loud Shout Out to Kelli Kelemen for always being on top of things and providing so much support to all of us in a timely manner. She goes out of her way and I appreciate her!

Thank you Kelli for all you do!

By Sherlinda Wheeler

OPH would like to give a Big Shout out to MNIT for completing the Re-IP project at OPH.

MNIT DOC Management:

• Kuntz, Dan (MNIT)
• Kramer, Julie (MNIT)

Supervisor over MNIT DOC STS Team: Schoenrock, Robin (MNIT)

• Team Lead: Marshall, Jonathan W (MNIT)
• Team Members:
  • Hlad, David (MNIT)
  • Rice, Corey (MNIT)
  • Jim Richards (MNIT)

Supervisor over MNIT DOC LAN Team: Theiler, Kevin (MNIT)

• Team Lead: Nordin, Timothy (MNIT)
• Team Members:
  • Ess, Tim (MNIT)
  • Chapa, Tim (MNIT)
  • Robins, Andrew (MNIT)
  • Woltman, Fred (MNIT)

MNIT Windows Server Support Team Lead Ulaszek, Jonathan C (MNIT)

• Team Member:
  • Klopp, Charles (MNIT)

Supervisor over MNIT Desktop Support Team: Dalluge, Joshua (MNIT)

• Team Member:
  • Norring, Justina L (MNIT)

MNIT Firewall Support: Wulff, Robert (MNIT)

By Melissa Paquette

MCF-Faribault held an all-day Lieutenant retreat at the Faribault Police Department on June 13 & 22. The retreat was held to show appreciation & support for the hardwork that facility Lieutenants do on a daily basis.

The morning consisted of Warden Beltz presenting the new curriculum for "Effective Communication in Corrections" to facility Lieutenants and Captains. Staff were able to give valuable feedback and provide suggestions upon completion. The afternoon consisted of Captains having open discussions with the group on succession planning, Lt. duties, pros/cons of Lt. positions as well as an entertaining table top exercise to finish out the day.

THANK YOU to all of the FRB Lieutenants for all that you do!

Staff listed below attended one or both of the trainings:

Lieutenants----Proehl, Frantesl, Morgan, Opsal, Dusbabek, Kasten, Sunde, Olson, Duffy, Sutlief, McCarthy, Wilkemeyer, Sterling, Hanson, Davis, Ward, Wadzinski, Mueller & Wagner

Warden Beltz

AWA Westphal

Captains----Paquette, Mitchell, Dahlen & Cunningham