State Correctional Institution (Prison) Records Request
Temporarily Unavailable
For this research service, Library Staff will search for one inmate in one institution's records.
State Correctional Institution (Prison) Records Requests may take up to 60 business days to complete.
Turnaround: Research is usually completed and sent within 60 business days.
- Inmate case files
- Admission and discharge registers
- Commitment papers
- Parole records
- Trial transcripts
- Inmate photographs
If Library Staff find a photographic image, they will photocopy it (if possible) and include directions for ordering a photographic-quality print or scan of the image.
The State Archives of the Minnesota Historical Society preserves records from the following state correctional institutions:
- Adults
- Stillwater State Prison (opened 1854, also called Bayport or MN State Prison)
- St. Cloud State Prison (opened 1887, also called MN State Reformatory for Men)
- Shakopee State Reformatory for Women (opened 1919)
- Juveniles
- Red Wing State Training School for Boys (opened 1868)
- Red Wing State Training School for Girls (opened 1898; in 1911 girls at the School were transferred to the Sauk Centre Home School for Girls)
- Sauk Centre Home School for Girls (opened 1903; records restricted for 100 years)
Restrictions on access: Inmate records contain private information about individuals and access to many of them is restricted.
Inmate records are generally restricted for 75 years from the date of the last entry in the record or file. If you know or suspect that the records you are requesting will be restricted under this guideline, you should apply for permission to access the records. For any restricted record, if access permission is granted but third party data is included--parole officer interviews with friends and relatives, adoption information, information on crime victims, etc.--the record may be redacted.
Individuals have the right review their own correctional records, as long as the privacy interests of third parties are not affected.
If additional permission and paperwork is required for your specific order, you will have the opportunity to upload the application form and supporting documents during the ordering process. If you prefer, you may also email, mail, or fax your form and documents to us. Please include your order information with your paperwork, so that it can be connected to your order after it arrives.
Email: reference@mnhs.org
Mail: MNHS Library, attn: Correction Record Request, 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul, MN 55102
