Incarceration in California

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All federal, state, and county incarceration facilities in California. Map of all federal, state, and county incarceration facilities in California.png
All federal, state, and county incarceration facilities in California.

Incarceration in California spans federal, state, county, and city governance, with approximately 200,000 people in confinement at any given time. An additional 55,000 people are on parole.

Contents

The main government agencies and incarceration facilities involved in each jurisdiction are:

Most people incarcerated in county and city jails are in pre-trial detention and have therefore not been convicted of a crime.

Federal incarceration

Federal prisons

FCI Dublin, one of five federal prisons for women in the United States Aerial view of the front of Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin.jpg
FCI Dublin, one of five federal prisons for women in the United States

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) operates a variety of facilities in California, including United States Penitentiaries (USPs), Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs), and Private Correctional Institutions (PCIs). One BOP facility, Taft Correctional Institution, is operated by Management and Training Corporation (MCT), a private company.

As of April 2020, 13,315 people were under custody in BOP facilities in California. An additional 422 people were under BOP custody in privately run facilities in California, and an unspecified number of people were under BOP custody in community-based facilities in California. Roughly 8% of the people in BOP custody are in California. [1]

ICE detention centers

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) contracts with various private companies to detain people in California. The largest ICE detention facilities in California are:

Per a Congressional mandate that first appeared in the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act of 2010, ICE must maintain at least 34,000 detention beds in total across the country. ICE detention facilities in California contribute 3,515 mandatory beds to that mandate. As of August 22, 2020, ICE facilities in California had an average daily population of 3,118. [2]

State incarceration

State prisons

Aerial view of San Quentin, including the housing units, yard, education center, and Prison Industry Authority facilities Aerial view of San Quentin State Prison.jpg
Aerial view of San Quentin, including the housing units, yard, education center, and Prison Industry Authority facilities

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) operates 35 prisons in California, with a design capacity of 85,083 incarcerated people. CDCR both owns and operates 34 of the state prisons; it additionally operates California City Correctional Facility, a prison leased from CoreCivic.

The state's prison medical care system has been in receivership since 2006, when a federal court ruled in Plata v. Brown that the state failed to provide a constitutional level of medical care to its prisoners. Since 2009, the state has been under court order to reduce prison overcrowding to no higher than 137.5% of total design capacity.

Fire camps

Incarcerated firefighters fight the Rim Fire in California in 2013 Rim Fire 20130817-FS-UNK-0040 (9665093532).jpg
Incarcerated firefighters fight the Rim Fire in California in 2013

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) runs 44 conservation camps (also known as fire camps) jointly with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The conservation camp program mission is to "support state, local and federal government agencies as they respond to emergencies such as fires, floods, and other natural or manmade disasters." Over 3,000 incarcerated people work at the conservation camps each year, including men, women, and juveniles. They receive the same entry-level training as CAL FIRE's seasonal firefighters. [3]

CAL FIRE reported 3,500 incarcerated firefighters in its 2018-2019 staffing numbers, making incarcerated firefighters approximately 27% of the total firefighting capacity of the state. [4]

Juvenile detention facilities

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation's Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) (formerly known as the California Youth Authority (CYA)) manages youth incarceration. DJJ incarcerates youths from ages 12 – 25; youths tried as adult and committed to the Division of Adult Institutions may be transferred to an adult prison once they turn 18. [5]

DJJ owns and operates 3 prisons and 1 youth fire camp, with a total design capacity of roughly 750 incarcerated people. Those facilities are:

Other facilities

In addition to running prisons and camps, CDCR runs or contracts with private companies to run a variety of smaller-scale community incarceration facilities:

  • Community Correctional Facilities (CCF): [6] facilities owned and operated by cities or private companies, originally leveraged by CDCR to house people during the peak of prison overcrowding in the state. The facilities have an aggregate capacity of 2818 beds:
  • Community Prisoner Mother Program (CPMP): [7] women with children under the age of 6 may be eligible for this 24-bed "community substance abuse treatment program where non-serious, nonviolent female offenders may serve a sentence up to six years."
  • Alternative Custody Program (ACP): [8] some people service prison sentences may "serve up to the last 12 months of their sentence in the community in lieu of confinement in state prison. Eligible participants may be housed in a private residence, a transitional care facility or a residential drug or other treatment program."
  • Custody to Community Treatment Reentry Program (CCTRP): [9] some women may "serve their sentence in the community at a CCTRP as designated by the Department, in lieu of confinement in State prison and at the discretion of the Secretary. The CCTRP will provide a range of rehabilitative services that assist with alcohol and drug recovery, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support." This program has facilities in San Diego, Santa Fe Springs, Bakersfield, Stockton, and Sacramento, with an aggregate capacity of 399 beds.
  • Male Community Reentry Program (MCRP): [10] some men serving prison sentences may "serve the end of their sentence (up to one year) in the community in lieu of confinement at a CDCR institution. The MCRP is designed to provide a range of community-based, rehabilitative services that assist with substance use disorder treatment, mental health care, medical care, employment, education, housing, family reunification, and social support." MCRP has facilities in Butte County, Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Diego County.

County incarceration

Aerial view of Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County Aerial view of Santa Rita Jail.jpg
Aerial view of Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County

The California Board of State and Community Corrections tracks 116 county jails across California's 58 counties, with a total design capacity of 78,243 incarcerated people.

California's county jails function like county jails throughout the United States: they are used to incarcerated people pre-trial, through a trial and sentencing, and for some sentences of commitment. The majority of people incarcerated in California's county jails have not been sentenced (they are pre-trial and have not been convicted of a crime). Most county jails are run by the county sheriff; occasionally they are run by a county-level department of corrections.

Historically, time would be served in a county jail for sentences of less than a year, including sentences for misdemeanors and some felonies. In 2011, California's Public Safety Realignment Act was signed into law in response to the Supreme Court case Brown v. Plata and the resulting court order to address prison overcrowding in the state. Realignment "shifted responsibility for all sentenced non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders from state to local jurisdictions", [11] which decreased California prison populations, increased California county jail populations, and changed the types and distribution of crimes for which people were serving sentences in county jails.

City incarceration

Some cities run their own jails for incarcerating people in pre-trial detention, typically overseen by the city police department. Many city jails additionally have a "pay to stay" program as an alternative to incarceration in a county jail. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

California Mens Colony

California Men's Colony (CMC) is a male-only state prison located northwest of the city of San Luis Obispo, San Luis Obispo County, California, along the central California coast approximately halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Youth detention center Type of prison for people under the age of majority

In criminal justice systems a youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center (JDC), juvenile detention, juvenile hall, or more colloquially as juvie/juvy, is a prison for people under the age of 21, often termed juvenile delinquents, to which they have been sentenced and committed for a period of time, or detained on a short-term basis while awaiting trial or placement in a long-term care program. Juveniles go through a separate court system, the juvenile court, which sentences or commits juveniles to a certain program or facility.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the agency of the government of California responsible for the operation of the California state prison and parole systems. Its headquarters are in Sacramento.

The California Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), previously known as the California Youth Authority (CYA), is a division of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that provides education, training, and treatment services for California's most serious youth offenders. These youths are committed by the juvenile and criminal courts to DJJ's eleven correctional facilities, four conservation camps and two residential drug treatment programs. The DJJ provides services to juvenile offenders, ranging in age from twelve to 25, in facilities and on parole, and works closely with law enforcement, the courts, district attorneys, public defenders, probation offices and other public and private agencies involved with the problems of youth. The DJJ is undergoing reorganization as required by a court agreement and the California State Legislature after widespread criticisms of conditions at its youth prisons. The agency's headquarters are in Sacramento, California.

California Institution for Men

California Institution for Men (CIM) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Chino, San Bernardino County, California. It is often colloquially referenced as "Chino". In turn, locals call the prison "Chino Men's" or just "Men's" to avoid confusion with the city itself.

Valley State Prison

Valley State Prison (VSP), previously the Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), is a state prison in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Central California Women's Facility. It used to be a prison for women.

Deuel Vocational Institution

Deuel Vocational Institution (DVI) is a state prison located in unincorporated San Joaquin County, California, near Tracy.

Avenal State Prison

Avenal State Prison (ASP) is a male-only state prison in the city of Avenal, Kings County, California, United States.

Santa Rita Jail

Santa Rita Jail is a county jail located in Dublin, Alameda County, California, and operated by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. With a design capacity of 3489, Santa Rita is one of the largest prisons in the United States and larger than many California state prisons. The jail is adjacent to Federal Correctional Institution, Dublin, on the Camp Parks Reserve Forces Training Area.

California State Prison, Centinela

California State Prison, Centinela (CEN) is a male-only state prison located in Imperial County, California, approximately 20 miles (32 km) from Imperial and El Centro. The facility is sometimes referenced Centinela State Prison.

California Correctional Center

California Correctional Center (CCC) is a state prison in the city of Susanville in Northern California. It is a minimum-security facility.

California State Prison, Sacramento

California State Prison, Sacramento (SAC) is a male-only state prison located in the city of Folsom, in Sacramento County, California. The facility is also referenced as Sacramento State Prison, CSP-Sacramento, CSP-SAC, and occasionally, New Folsom or New Folsom Prison which was its official name prior to October 1992.

Prisons in California

The California State Prison System is a system of prisons, fire camps, contract beds, reentry programs, and other special programs administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Institutions to incarcerate approximately 117,000 people as of April 2020. CDCR owns and operates 34 prisons throughout the state and operates 1 prison leased from a private company.

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility Prison near San Diego, California

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility is a U.S. state prison located in unincorporated southern San Diego County, California, near San Diego. It is a part of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. It is a 780-acre (320 ha) facility. It is the only state prison in San Diego County.

Wasco State Prison American prison in California

Wasco State Prison-Reception Center (WSP) is a 634-acre (257 ha) state prison located in Wasco, Kern County, California.

The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions in the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States. DCDC runs the D.C. Jail.

California Conservation Camp Program

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) runs 44 conservation camps jointly with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The mission of the Conservation Camp program is to "support state, local and federal government agencies as they respond to emergencies such as fires, floods, and other natural or manmade disasters." Over 3,000 incarcerated people work at the conservation camps each year, including men, women, and juveniles, all of whom have volunteered for the program. All volunteers receive the same entry-level training as CAL FIRE's seasonal firefighters.

Federal Bureau of Prisons facilities in California Wikipedia list article

The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) operates or contracts with a variety of facilities in California, including United States Penitentiaries (USPs), Federal Correctional Institutions (FCIs), and Private Correctional Institutions (PCIs). Informally, these would all often be described as federal prisons.

References

  1. ↑ BOP (2020-04-01). "BOP: Population Statistics". BOP. Archived from the original on 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2020-04-11. Alt URL
  2. ↑ "ICE detention statistics for fiscal year 2020 as of August 22, 2020". Immigration and Customs Enforcement. August 22, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2020.
  3. ↑ Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Conservation (Fire) Camps". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-03-29. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  4. ↑ CAL FIRE (September 2018). "CAL FIRE at a Glance" (PDF). CAL FIRE. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-29. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  5. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Division of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-23. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  6. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Community Correctional Facilities". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  7. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Community Prisoner Mother Program". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  8. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Alternative Custody Program". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  9. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Custody to Community Transitional Reentry Program". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  10. ↑ California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. "Male Community Reentry Program". California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original on 2020-08-30. Retrieved 2020-08-30.
  11. ↑ Board of State and Community Corrections. "Realignment". Board of State and Community Corrections. Archived from the original on 2020-04-19.
  12. ↑ Michael S. Carona ,Sheriff of Orange County, California (2007). "Pay-To-Stay Programs in California Jails". Michigan Law Review First Impressions. Archived from the original on 2020-08-23. Retrieved 2020-08-23.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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