BAYPORT, Minn. — Planning to carry out the closure of the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Stillwater four years from now has begun, with the top state prisons official describing it as an unprecedented undertaking.

Last month, Gov. Tim Walz announced the closure of MCF-Stillwater, one of the state’s largest and oldest prisons. The plan is to close the prison, which is in the city of Bayport, by 2029.

Walz and lawmakers involved in the decision said the prison is outdated, unsafe and expensive to maintain. The closure order was part of a bill approved in May and signed into law, so it is not affected by the current budget standoff.

The closure will happen over two phases. The first will reduce operations at the prison and then lead from a stepdown to full closure.

In a memo sent Thursday to “friends and family of incarcerated persons,” Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell said his agency has created teams to plan future programming at the prison, assess impacts to staff, determine how to transfer the prison’s nearly 1,200 inmates to other facilities and manage communications and engagement around the closure.

His memo says the teams will focus on minimizing disruption for the people incarcerated and prison staff, as well as maintaining essential services. They’ll also map out milestones that will need to be met.

Schnell notes that the closure is a complex process “unlike anything the DOC has undertaken before.”

“This will be a complex process with many moving parts,” he adds, while requesting patience “as we navigate this enormous change.”

Under the planning framework, the corrections agency will start the final transition to fully emptying Stillwater in July 2027. Walz has said the plan is to transfer inmates to other prisons with capacity and that no one would be released prematurely from custody.

About half of the prison’s population is in for homicide. More than 60% of incarcerated people there were committed from the seven-county metro area.

Advocates for the incarcerated say they would like a group of currently and formerly incarcerated people at the prison to help with transition planning to ensure safety.