Corrections commissioner Tom Roy on prison reform, county jails and services for inmates

Last week, we aired an interview with Charlene Briner about her personal journey with her son Nick's drug addiction.

Briner, who is Minnesota's Deputy Education Commissioner, talked about her experience with prisons as the mother of a son serving time. During the interview, she offered criticism of the state's correctional system:

"If we don't want to house offenders indefinitely at a cost of millions, if not billions, of dollars to the state, we need to think about what happens when they leave, and how do we help them be productive citizens," Charlene Briner said. "And I'm not necessarily convinced that Nick has gotten that kind of preparation."

Tom Roy, Commissioner of Minnesota's Department of Corrections, joined MPR News host Tom Weber to respond to the concerns Briner raised about the services available to inmates.