Appleton facility will hold up to 1,600 detainees by mid-2027
CoreCivic has been refurbishing the Prairie Correctional Facility for many months ahead of Tuesday’s announcement. The prison industry giant said it expects detainees to begin arriving by the end of this year, “with the full ramp estimated to be complete in the second quarter of 2027.”
The facility is located in Appleton, a small city in Swift County in rural western Minnesota. The city originally built the prison, which CoreCivic then purchased in 1997 to hold state prisoners. The company shut it down in 2010 because of decreased demand. It was once the largest employer in the Appleton community.