# MINNCOR *Division of the Minnesota Department of Corrections* MINNCOR is a division of the [[Minnesota]] Department of Corrections. Reporting on a 2021 lawsuit against it gives its name as MINNCOR Industries.[^1] The [[Minnesota Historical Society]] dates MINNCOR's establishment to 1994. It identifies the division as the successor to a state-run binder-twine plant at the Minnesota State Prison in [[Stillwater]].[^2] The twine plant was the state's replacement for private prison contracting. It operated from 1891 to 1970 and had produced nearly one billion pounds of twine by 1941. When it closed in 1970, officials conceded that it "failed to provide marketable skills" to inmates.[^2] In 2021 the family of [[Joseph Gomm]], a Minnesota corrections officer, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against MINNCOR Industries. KSTP reported the suit on July 20, 2021. The family alleged that a state investigation had shown prior warnings from officers, staff and inmates about the security of the workshop. KSTP reported that the suit followed the [[Legislature]]'s rejection of a proposed $3 million appropriation.[^1] ## Who MINNCOR is a Department of Corrections division and was the named defendant in the Gomm family's wrongful-death suit.[^1] The plaintiffs were Gomm's family. The persons they cited as having given prior warnings were officers, staff and inmates.[^1] The record identifies the officials who conceded the twine plant's failure only as officials. It does not name them.[^2] ## What MINNCOR's forerunner was a binder-twine plant at the Stillwater prison. The state ran it in place of private prison contracting.[^2] The 2021 action against MINNCOR Industries is a wrongful-death suit.[^1] ## When - 1891: the twine plant begins operating.[^2] - 1907: the plant's 225 workers produce over 15 million pounds of twine a year.[^2] - 1941: cumulative output reaches nearly one billion pounds.[^2] - 1970: the plant closes, and officials concede it "failed to provide marketable skills."[^2] - 1994: MINNCOR is established.[^2] - July 20, 2021: KSTP reports the Gomm family's wrongful-death suit against MINNCOR Industries.[^1] ## Where The predecessor plant stood at the Minnesota State Prison in Stillwater.[^2] ## How much The twine plant's output totalled nearly one billion pounds by 1941.[^2] According to KSTP, the Gomm family filed suit after the Legislature rejected a proposed $3 million appropriation.[^1] The pack does not state the purpose of that appropriation, how members voted on it, or the year it was rejected. ## How many By 1907 the plant employed 225 workers, who produced over 15 million pounds of twine a year.[^2] ## In the at-issue record The record carries two entries on MINNCOR. The first entry concerns the Gomm suit. The family alleged that a state investigation had shown prior warnings about the workshop's security, and the suit followed the Legislature's rejection of a proposed $3 million appropriation.[^1] The entry is anchored to the Office of the Legislative Auditor's 2020 evaluation summary on prison safety.[^3] The pack carries no passage from that summary. This article therefore does not state the summary's findings or whether they match the family's allegations. The pack also gives no court, docket number or current status for the suit.[^1] The second entry concerns the lineage from prison contract labor to MINNCOR. The state replaced private prison contracting with a state-run twine plant. That plant operated for 79 years and produced nearly a billion pounds of twine. Officials conceded at its closing that it "failed to provide marketable skills" to inmates. The Minnesota Historical Society identifies the plant as the direct forerunner of MINNCOR.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: KSTP, report on the wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the family of corrections officer Joseph Gomm (July 20, 2021). Establishes the wrongful-death suit against MINNCOR Industries, the alleged prior warnings from officers, staff and inmates, and that the suit followed the Legislature's rejection of a proposed $3 million appropriation. https://kstp.com/kstp-news/top-news/family-of-murdered-minnesota-corrections-officer-joseph-gomm-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit/ [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Twine Industry at the Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater* (undated). Establishes the binder-twine plant's operation from 1891 to 1970; 225 workers producing over 15 million lbs/yr by 1907; nearly one billion pounds cumulative by 1941; closure in 1970 with officials conceding it "failed to provide marketable skills"; and the plant as forerunner to MINNCOR, established 1994. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/twine-industry-minnesota-state-prison-stillwater [^3]: Office of the Legislative Auditor, prison safety evaluation summary (2020). This is the anchor source for the at-issue entry on the Gomm suit; the pack carries no passage from it. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2020/prisonsafetysum.htm