Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater

A large close-security state prison for men, physically located in Bayport, Washington County, Minnesota — one of the oldest prisons in the state, opened in 1914. Despite its name, it is not in the city of Stillwater.

Overview

Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater (MCF-Stillwater) is a state prison for men operated by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. It is one of the largest prisons in the state and houses men in close custody. The facility opened in 1914 and is one of the oldest prisons in Minnesota.

The Minnesota DOC assigns a custody level based on factors that include sentence length, time remaining, and conduct, and a person’s custody level can change during incarceration. The custody class and housing unit held at a given prison affect how visits are arranged, so families confirm the arrangement that applies to the specific person before a first visit.

What Makes MCF-Stillwater Different

MCF-Stillwater is a large close-security men’s prison and one of the oldest in Minnesota, with origins dating to its opening in 1914. Its most common point of confusion is its location. Although the facility is named “Stillwater,” it is not in the city of Stillwater. It is physically in the neighboring city of Bayport, several miles to the south, and the name reflects the prison’s historic mailing identity rather than its actual address. A predecessor prison, the Minnesota Territorial Prison, did operate in the city of Stillwater, but the current facility has been in Bayport since it opened. Visitors and people sending items should use the Bayport address and directions, not the city of Stillwater.

Visiting

The statewide MN DOC rules above — the approved visitor list, the dress code, ID, and item limits — apply at MCF-Stillwater. The facility’s own arrangements:

Getting There and Parking

MCF-Stillwater is at 970 Pickett Street N in Bayport, in Washington County in the east-central Minnesota Twin Cities metro area. Bayport sits along the St. Croix River on the eastern edge of the metro, just south of the city of Stillwater and reached by way of State Highway 95. Directions set for the city of Stillwater will not lead to the prison, so visitors confirm the Bayport address. The nearest large commercial airport is Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, to the southwest.

Parking is on site. Visitors confirm current entry procedures, the visitor-processing location, and what may be brought onto the grounds with the facility before arriving, because electronic devices and personal items are generally not permitted inside the visiting area.

Nearby Services

Bayport and the neighboring city of Stillwater have lodging and dining, with a wider range of hotels, restaurants, and services throughout the Twin Cities metro area to the west. Emergency medical care is available locally, with larger hospitals in the metro area. Visitors traveling a long distance generally find the most options for fuel, food, and overnight stays along the Interstate 94 and Interstate 694 corridors to the west.

Mail

Minnesota does not deliver friends-and-family mail to the prison. Since November 1, 2024, the Minnesota DOC has personal mail processed off-site by a private vendor, TextBehind, which scans or photocopies each item and sends the copies to the facility (electronic delivery to the person’s tablet is also available for a fee). Mail sent directly to a Minnesota prison is returned to the sender.

Address personal mail this way:

First Name / Last Name, and OID number MCF-Stillwater, Minnesota (do not abbreviate Minnesota) P.O. Box 247 Phoenix, MD 21131

Items missing a first and last name or the OID number are rejected, and envelopes without complete information are discarded unopened. Mail between two incarcerated people, pen-pal mail, and photo orders also go to the TextBehind address.

Some mail still goes directly to the facility, not to TextBehind: legal mail; published materials, books, and subscription renewals; business mail from courts, counties, child support, and other government agencies; and vital documents such as birth certificates, Social Security cards, and IDs (TextBehind forwards these to the facility). Legal mail is sent to the facility’s own address, and incarcerated people use the facility address as the return address on outgoing legal mail.

Verify the current mailing rules and the facility’s address before sending anything.

Learn More

• Visiting a Minnesota prison — getting on the approved visitor list, scheduling, and what to expect at the visit.
• Sending mail — how the TextBehind scanning system works and how to address letters, photos, and legal mail.
• Phone & video — ViaPath phone calls and JPay Video Connect video visits.
• Sending money — depositing funds through JPay and where government or corporate checks go.
• Medical care — how health care is provided in Minnesota prisons and how to raise a concern.
• Transfers & intake — where people enter the system (men at MCF-St. Cloud, women at MCF-Shakopee) and how transfers work.