Visiting

Coronavirus and Visiting: We have suspended in-person visiting until further notice at all facilities. 

Click here for updates on our COVID-19 response.

Personal Planning and Preparation

For up-to-date COVID-19 information, visit the websites of the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The best guidance for avoiding COVID-19 is to take the same precautions you take for avoiding colds and flu: 

1. Stay home when sick.
2. Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time.
3. Cover your coughs and sneezes with your sleeve or a tissue, not your hand. Throw the tissue away when you are done.
4. Stay informed. Visit the MDH and CDC websites often.

Thanks for your interest in visiting an inmate at our facilities. Visiting maintains healthy family relationships and community connections. Visiting can help inmates build support networks they will need after release. Research has shown that positive interactions with friends and family during incarceration can help people succeed after they return to their communities. 

For these positive interactions to occur, the visiting room must be a secure environment where inmates and families can feel safe. To maintain this environment, inmates and visitors are required to obey the rules of the visiting room. Failure to do so may result in warning, termination of visits, placement on non-contact visiting status, suspension, or revocation of the visiting privilege.

Normal Visiting Schedules 

Each facility has an established visiting schedule. Click below for visiting hours.

MCF-Faribault
MCF-Lino Lakes
MCF-Oak Park Heights
MCF-Red Wing (Adult)
MCF-Red Wing (Juvenile)
MCF-Rush City
MCF-St. Cloud
MCF-Shakopee
MCF-Stillwater
MCF-Willow River/Moose Lake
Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP) - Willow River
Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP) - MCF-Togo

There is no visiting on the following State recognized holidays*:

• New Year's Day
• President's Day
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Memorial Day
• July 4 (Independence Day)
• Labor Day
• Veterans Day
• Thanksgiving and the following Friday
• Christmas Day

*Willow River and Togo Challenge Incarceration Program participants may have visitors on holidays IF the holiday falls on a regularly-scheduled visiting day.

Public Transportation Options

Metro Transit

Minnesota Public Transportation

Minneapolis Public Transportation

Minnesota Valley Transit Authority

Jefferson Line

Victim Visiting 

Victims of an active offense are prohibited from visiting incarcerated offenders.

Victim Visitation Restriction FAQs

Statewide Visiting Room Rules

Statewide Visiting Room Rules (English)
Reglas de la Sala de Visitas en Todo el Estado (Spanish)

Visiting Restrictions

Visiting Restrictions for Visitors (English)
Restricciones de Visita para los Visitantes (Spanish)

Visiting Restrictions for Offenders (English)
Restricciones de Visita para los Delincuentes (Spanish)

Visiting Applications

Visiting Privilege Application Form - Fillable Online (English) You will need to print off the application and mail in the application.
Solicitud de Privilegio de Visita  (Spanish)

Notarized Minor Escort Authorization (English)
Autorización de Acompañantes Menores Notarizados (Spanish)

DOC facilities will only accept a 10/2018 or newer visiting application form. Using old applications causes a delay in the processing time and will result in the application being denied.

If you have questions about the visiting applications, please contact the Rush City Visiting Unit at 320-358-0400.

No information concerning an inmate’s visiting list will be given over the phone. Anyone wishing to have information will need to present picture ID at any MCF location.