Introduction
Did You Know?
California Correctional Facilities

Introduction

California’s correctional facilities have a legendary history. San Quentin, formerly a frigate, has nestled on the San Francisco Bay for 150 years. Johnny Cash and Eldridge Cleaver have given popularity to Old Folsom. National TV viewers have witnessed parole board hearings for Charles Manson and Sirhan Sirhan, both California inmates.

The newest historical development in California correctional facilities features its rapid expansion. Since 1984, California has added 21 facilities, raising the total operated by the California Department of Corrections (CDC) to 33. In that same time, the inmate population has swelled from 24,000 to over 160,000.

Currently, the California Department of Corrections manages a $4.8 billion enterprise, with over 47,000 employees. Rural jurisdictions and other organizations such as the California Correctional Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) and Crime Victims United of California (CVUC) are the beneficiaries of a growing criminal justice system.

[Click here] to see a flowchart of the political dynamics within the California criminal justice system.

Did You Know?

The state of California operates the third largest penal system in the world [http://www.rut.com/mdavis/hellfactories.html] ¹. California’s inmate population ranks behind only China’s national correctional system and the United States’ national correctional system.

• California’s inmate population has exploded by 554% since 1980 (from 24,549 to 160,655) [http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/pdf/hist00.pdf] (PDF) ²
• California’s inmate population growth  (24,569 to 160,655) over the past 20 years represents a 554% increase.
• In the same 20 year span, the number of correctional facilities in California has nearly tripled, growing from 12 to 33.

• From 1980 to 1999, the female inmate population has grown 850%. [ The Disparate Imprisonment of Women Under California’s Drug Laws, Justice Policy Institute, 2001.] ³
• The proportion of male inmates incarcerated for drug offenses rose from 7.4% to 28.3% between 1983 and 1999. During the same period, the proportion of women inmates incarcerated for drug offenses rose from 12.6% to 43.9%.

• From 1980 to 2000, the racial composition of inmates has changed. The largest racial group in California prisons was Whites from 1980 to 1986, Blacks from 1986 to 1992, and Hispanics from 1992 to the present. **See Note About Racial Terms

List of California Correctional Facilities

These data represent information posted on the California Department of Corrections Web site as of February, 2004.

I: Security Level I
II: Security Level II
III: Security Level III
IV: Security Level IV
SHU: Security Housing Unit
RC: Reception Center
Ad Seg: Administrative Segregation
CTC: Correctional Training Center
SATF: Substance Abuse Treatment Facility
PSU: Program Support Unit
PHU: Protective Housing Unit

**Black, White, and Hispanic are used to be consistent with the terminology used by the California Department of Corrections.

Resources:
California Department of Corrections – Fact Sheet [http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/factsht.htm]
United States Census Bureau [http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html]
“The Prison Industrial Complex” [http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98dec/prisons.htm]
Activist Resource Center [http://www.prisonactivist.org/crisis/prison-industrial.html]

Citations:
1. [http://www.rut.com/mdavis/hellfactories.html]
2. [http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/pdf/hist00.pdf] (PDF)
3. The Disparate Imprisonment of Women Under California’s Drug Laws, Justice Policy Institute, 2001
4. California Department of Corrections, 2000