Minnesota's prisoners will feel significantly tighter restrictions due to the shutdown. Family and friends of prisoners held in the state's correctional facilities will not be able to make visits until the shutdown is over. In addition, phone privileges for prisoners to make calls on the outside have been drastically cut back due to the reduced workforce in the facilities, John Schadl, the Department of Corrections spokesperson, said Friday. Cable television and movies piped into the facilities will stop within a few weeks – if the shutdown lasts that long, Schadl said. Still, prisoners will be able to view the limited, digital television programming. "Nowhere is it more true that idle hands are the devil's workshop than in a prison,'' David Crist, assistant DOC Commissioner, said Friday. Volunteer programming services provided to offenders have been suspended, including all religious services, education programs and Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous counseling sessions. If an offender wants to shoot hoops or work out in a prison gym, he or she is out of luck. Same for going to a facility's library to check out a book, read magazines or do legal research. And when it comes to clean linens, offenders may experience delays in getting fresh sheets. Administrators in each facility met with inmate representative groups on Thursday to alert them to what was in store, Crist said. "We don't believe in surprising these guys, lest their response be surprising to us and that's never good.'' The visitation issue is a huge concern to inmates with recreational gym issues following, he said. Crist said that about 125 correctional officers out a force of 1,970 have been furloughed. -- by Star Tribune reporter Paul McEnroe