California Prisons Closing: Which Five Facilities and Why

Five California state prisons have closed or are scheduled to close under Governor Gavin Newsom, and once the last shutdown wraps up in fall 2026 the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) will run 30 prisons statewide, down from 34 when the current round of California prison closings began in 2021.¹ The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office has already urged planning for a sixth closure as early as 2027–28.²

The Five Prisons Closing or Already Closed

Four state-owned prisons and one privately operated facility are on the list. Here they are in order:³

Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy closed in September 2021. It was the first prison shuttered under Newsom’s plan, announced in the 2020–21 budget.
California Correctional Center in Susanville (Lassen County) closed in June 2023.
California City Correctional Facility in Kern County ended operations in March 2024 when the state terminated its lease. This one was run by CoreCivic under contract with CDCR, not owned by the state.
Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe (Riverside County) closed in fall 2024, ahead of its original 2025 target.
California Rehabilitation Center in Norco (Riverside County) is scheduled to close by fall 2026. This is the only closure still pending.

Why California Is Closing Prisons

Far Fewer People Are Incarcerated

The main reason is that California’s state prisons hold far fewer people than they did a decade ago. The population topped 110,000 in 2020. By mid-2026, CDCR projects roughly 92,400 incarcerated individuals, declining further to about 89,700 by mid-2029.⁴

Three major reforms built that decline. AB 109 (2011) shifted responsibility for lower-level offenders from state prisons to county supervision. Proposition 47 (2014) reclassified certain drug and property offenses as misdemeanors. Proposition 57 (2016) expanded parole eligibility for people convicted of nonviolent crimes and created new credit-earning opportunities for good behavior and program participation.⁵

Proposition 36, which voters passed in November 2024, is expected to push some admissions back up. CDCR’s projections already account for it and still forecast a net decline through the end of the decade.⁴

The population drop traces back further than Newsom. In Brown v. Plata (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an order requiring California to reduce its prison population to 137.5 percent of design capacity, which forced the sentencing and supervision reforms above.⁶ As of December 2025, the adult institutional population sat at 122 percent of design capacity, well under the court-ordered ceiling.⁷

Empty Beds Still Cost Money

A half-full prison still requires staff, utilities, and upkeep. Closing one eliminates those costs. The California Rehabilitation Center shutdown alone is projected to save roughly $150 million per year in General Fund spending.¹ The 2026–27 CDCR budget proposal reflects a $258 million decrease from the prior year, driven largely by that closure and other operational efficiencies.²

How CDCR Picks Which Prison Closes

California Penal Code Section 2067 directs CDCR to weigh six factors when selecting a facility for closure: operating cost; the effect on the workforce and whether staff can be transferred; whether the prison serves a specialized population (such as women or people with specific medical needs); how much the state has already invested in infrastructure there; the impact on public safety and rehabilitation programming; and whether closing it still leaves durable capacity for future population swings.⁸

In practice, closures have skewed toward older facilities with high maintenance costs or locations where transferring inmates to nearby prisons is logistically straightforward. The Legislative Analyst’s Office has pointed to the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad as a candidate for the next closure, in part because further infrastructure investment there may be wasted if the prison shuts down within a few years.²

What Happens to Incarcerated People and Staff

Everyone housed at a closing prison has to be moved. CDCR handles transfers case by case, matching each person to a facility that fits their custody level, medical needs, and rehabilitative programming. The department says it tries to preserve family visitation access and allow people to finish programs already underway.⁹

Transfers are still disruptive. Someone close to finishing a vocational certificate may land at a prison that doesn’t offer the same program. Someone whose family lives nearby may be moved hundreds of miles away. Those costs don’t show up in the budget savings and are a recurring complaint from incarcerated people and their families during every closure.

For employees, CDCR offers transfers to other prisons, which is also one of the statutory factors it must weigh before selecting a closure site.⁸ A transfer three hours away is thin comfort for a correctional officer with a house and school-age kids locally. Community effects can be heavier still in rural towns where the prison is one of the largest employers. Susanville, which lost the California Correctional Center in 2023, sued to block the closure, arguing it would cause major economic harm. State officials acknowledged some layoffs were unavoidable even with transfer offers.

What’s Next

The Legislative Analyst’s Office has recommended that the Legislature direct CDCR to begin planning a sixth closure in 2027–28, or as soon as logistically feasible. The LAO’s analysis concluded the state could close another prison while keeping roughly a 2,500-bed buffer to absorb unexpected population increases, saving an additional $150 million or so per year in operating costs.² Whether that pace holds will depend on how Proposition 36 admissions play out, whether the Legislature follows the LAO’s recommendation, and which governor is in office when the next round of decisions comes due.

1
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California Rehabilitation Center to Close by Fall 2026
2
Legislative Analyst’s Office. The 2026-27 Budget – California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
3
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Reduction/Closure Information – Prison Closures
4
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Spring 2025 Population Projections
5
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. About the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016
6
Justia. Brown v. Plata
7
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Three-Judge Court Monthly Update
8
California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 2067
9
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Prison Closures – Frequently Asked Questions