Locate Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud Inmates

MCF St. Cloud Inmate Overview

Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud is a Level 4 Close state prison operated by the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Its address is 2305 Minnesota Blvd in St. Cloud, and its main phone number is 320-240-3000. The facility is not a county jail, so its inmate lookup path is different from Stearns County Jail. County jail roster tools cover local jail custody. MCF-St. Cloud inmates are adults who have been committed to the Commissioner of Corrections and remain under DOC jurisdiction.

The prison's current warden is Jesse Pugh. The facility can also be reached by email at MCF-St-Cloud.doc@state.mn.us. Because it is a state prison, many public questions should begin with the DOC public viewer and the DOC facility page rather than the sheriff's office. The county may have court or jail records from the earlier part of a case, but once the person enters state corrections custody, the DOC system is the controlling custody source.

This distinction is easy to miss in Stearns County because the state prison is physically located in St. Cloud. Location alone does not make it part of the county jail. A sentenced prisoner at MCF-St. Cloud will not be found through the county's current jail roster just because the prison sits in the same city.

Minnesota DOC Inmate Lookup

Use the Minnesota DOC public viewer to search for a person at Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud. The locator covers adults committed to the Commissioner of Corrections who are still under DOC jurisdiction. That can include people currently housed in a prison facility and people still within the DOC's public jurisdiction after a facility placement changes.

1. Open the Minnesota DOC public viewer rather than the Stearns County current or past jail roster.
2. Search by name or any DOC identifier known from court, prison, or release paperwork.
3. Review the returned record for facility placement, custody status, and DOC jurisdiction details.
4. Confirm visit eligibility and scheduling rules with MCF-St. Cloud before making travel plans.

State prison records should be read in a different frame than county jail roster records. A jail roster often reflects booking, charge, bond, and short-term custody. A DOC record reflects a state corrections commitment and the prison system's placement and status information. For county pretrial custody and recent jail booking records, use the Stearns County Jail tools instead of the DOC locator.

MCF St. Cloud Contact

Facility contact should go to Minnesota DOC channels. The prison's main phone line is the right starting point for general facility questions, visiting rule confirmation, restrictive-housing visit questions, and routing to the correct department. Email is also published by the DOC for the facility. Time-sensitive custody questions should still be confirmed through official DOC channels because prison placement, visit status, and housing status can change.

Questions about county jail booking, county bond, or pretrial custody should not be routed to the state prison just because a case began in Stearns County. A county jail case and a state prison placement are different custody stages. If a person was recently arrested and has not been committed to state corrections, the Stearns County Jail roster is the more likely search point.

MCF St. Cloud Visits

Visiting at Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud requires approval and advance scheduling. The general-population schedule is different from restrictive-housing visits. Visitors should confirm the person's housing status and visit eligibility before relying on a time window. The DOC also states that no visits occur on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or state holidays for the general-population schedule listed in the research.

Restrictive-housing visits have extra limits. The research notes no visits during the first 24 hours or on certain statuses, and it directs callers to 320-240-3000 ext. 5504 for restrictive-housing visit questions. Because those conditions are status-based, the published time alone is not enough to prove a visit will be allowed.

The DOC's Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud page is the source for the facility's prison profile and visiting information. The image below is from that official facility source.

The prison page is the better reference for MCF-St. Cloud visits than county jail pages because DOC approval, scheduling, and housing status control access.

MCF St. Cloud Intake

MCF-St. Cloud became the admitting facility for all adult men in Minnesota DOC custody in 1996. That intake role means the prison is not only a long-term housing site. It is also a reception and classification point for adult men entering the state prison system. Intake includes medical, dental, mental-health, and substance-use screening before classification and later placement decisions.

Classification is the prison process used to decide custody level, programming needs, housing, and placement. It is different from a county jail booking. Booking starts a local jail custody record after arrest. DOC intake follows a state prison commitment and looks at the person's correctional placement within the state system. A person can move from a county jail case into DOC intake after sentencing, but the public search system changes when that transfer occurs. For the local jail stage, the Stearns County Jail facility page describes the county roster and jail contact path.

DOC jurisdiction

Custody or supervision under the Minnesota Department of Corrections after a state commitment or qualifying status.

Intake

The prison admission process that screens health, treatment, risk, and placement needs.

Classification

The DOC process that helps decide custody level, facility placement, and program needs.

MCF St. Cloud Programs

The prison's programming profile is specific. The research notes that MCF-St. Cloud has the only Masonry and Barber programs in the Minnesota DOC system. Those programs are part of the facility's correctional role and help distinguish it from a county jail, where programming is often shorter and tied to local custody length.

MCF-St. Cloud also has two chemical-dependency programs and adult basic or general education. Chemical-dependency programming addresses substance-use needs identified in assessment and classification. Adult basic and general education can support literacy, diploma or equivalency work, and broader reentry preparation. Program access may depend on custody status, assessment, placement, eligibility, and available openings.

MCF St. Cloud Phone Access

The research did not provide a prison money-deposit vendor or a mail rule set for MCF-St. Cloud, so those details should be confirmed through DOC resources before sending funds or mail. Phone information is more specific. DOC phone calls are free, but beginning May 14, 2025, completed calls have a 15-minute wait before another call can be made. That delay applies after a completed call, so families should plan for a gap between successful calls.

Phone access is separate from visiting approval. A person may have phone access and still need a visitor to complete approval and scheduling before an in-person visit. Housing status, restrictive status, and facility operations can also affect communication and visits in different ways.

About MCF St. Cloud

Minnesota Correctional Facility - St. Cloud opened in 1889 as the Minnesota State Reformatory for Men. Its history includes granite quarrying and inmate labor, which shaped the physical facility. The prison wall was completed in 1922, and the DOC says it is the second largest continuous wall after the Great Wall. That history is part of why the St. Cloud prison is one of the most recognizable correctional sites in Minnesota.

The modern prison's role is tied to intake, classification, close custody, and specialized programming. Since 1996, it has served as the admitting facility for all adult men entering Minnesota DOC custody. That reception role puts MCF-St. Cloud at a key point in the path from sentencing to state correctional placement. Someone may arrive there for screening and classification and later be placed elsewhere in the state system.