I had children that attended Sweeney too. I think the prison needs a fence. I thought it was weird when we moved here that there was not a fence surrounding the prison.

I believe if something would happen, the community would be in a uproar with the state because the state didn't take enough precautions. The state has a duty to protect the citizens not appease homeowners that don't want the fence because of the belief that it will look bad and nothing has ever happened. Looks and history will not protect anyone.

I know a lady that is one of the head supervisors (used to be called Prison Matrons)...she says the makeup of the prison population has drastically changed and the population has increased, from when she started 20 plus years ago.

These prisoners currently are not just minor offenders that were the majority of the population makeup a decade ago. There are now murderers, sex offenders (yes, women), abusers, etc. These women committed many of the offenses against individuals that they are related to. Now think, if these women could do harm to a relative, do you seriously think they could harm a total stranger?

Every homeowner that is opposed to the fence should sign a waiver that will essentially hold-harmless the state in case of something happening because the fence was not there.

Also, the City of Shakopee's Mayor also should sign a waiver in same accordance of the homeowners that are opposed. However, the City's agreement should have a caveat that the City will be held responsible if something were to happen to the community because of the lack of a fence.

PRISON!........I always thought that was a state run bed and breakfast.....I bet there would be a fence up if Pawlenty lived across the street

I'm not asking why the prison there, I'm questioning why it's still there. The fact is that it's currently in a residential neighborhood, located across the street from a school. Maybe it's time for the state to find a new location.

The prison has existed for about 80 years, with the current location now open over 20 years. There is one big change though. The population used to be primarily made up of mostly minimum security inmates with a population of about 100. With the fast growth in women offenders, the Shakopee prison is now used for many more violent offenders with a population of almost 500.

To use the previous analogy, this would be like building your home near a small creek and then having the government dam that creek downstream so that you now live next to a surging river.

Correction.....The Shakopee womens prison has always been a MAX facility. It is thee only womens facility in the state......St Cloud, Lino Lakes, Stillwater ect are all mens. As far back as 1950s it has kept both minimum and max inmates in different Dorms on this site and the old site

I agree with Robert. The prison was there first. And not that this justifies a school being across from a prison, but I think the state either donated the land that Sweeney is on or offered them an unbeatable price for the land (please someone correct me if I'm wrong).
I do wish I would have seen the Comedy Central bit though - sounds like it was pretty funny.