The original office of the Ombudsman for Corrections was created in 1972. In 2002 the Minnesota Legislature reduced the budget for the Ombudsman for Corrections to $0 for 2003 (see HF351 and 2002 Minn. Laws, Chap. 220 Art. 6 Sec. 4) and in the 2003 special session, the Minnesota Legislature eliminated the office of the Ombudsman for Corrections (see 2003 Minn. Laws, 1st Spec. Sess., Chap. 2 Art. 5 Sec. 1).
In 2007 the legislature established a Corrections Ombudsman Working Group to be chaired by the Commissioner of Human Rights to consider, among other things, whether the Ombudsman for Corrections should be reinstated. A report detailing the group's findings and recommendations was issued in January 2008.
The office was re-established in 2019 as the Office of Ombudsperson for the Department of Corrections.
On December 17, 2019, Gov. Walz announced his appointment of Mark Haase as the Ombudsperson for Corrections.