Minn. sex offender facilities ban local newspapers
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ST. PETER, Minn. (AP) — Sex offenders in Minnesota's treatment facilities in St. Peter and Moose Lake are specifically barred from ordering or reading newspapers that cover those communities.
The director of the Minnesota Sex Offender programs tells The Free Press in Mankato the policy protects staff members. Nancy Johnston says they don't want offenders having access to personal information about facility employees or their families.
The ban has been in place since 2007 and was updated in August to specify three newspapers: The Free Press, the St. Peter Herald and the Moose Lake Star Gazette. The Free Press inquired about the policy after a Moose Lake inmate mailed the newspaper the policy with a letter of complaint.
A Corrections Department official told the newspaper that local papers are allowed at state prisons.
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