Death row at San Quentin has effectively ceased to exist. Between February and May 2024, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation moved 512 condemned men out of the prison’s East Block and dispersed them across roughly 20 other state institutions. Nine condemned people remained at the facility as of late 2025, and only because they were receiving psychiatric or medical care on site. The prison itself has been renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, and its former death row units are being repurposed for education and vocational training.
The condemned population still exists on paper. Courts continue to impose death sentences. But the physical death row that defined California capital punishment for more than a century is gone.
Why San Quentin’s Death Row Was Closed
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Executive Order N-09-19 on March 13, 2019. The order granted a reprieve to every person sentenced to death in California, directed the repeal of the state’s lethal injection protocol, and ordered the immediate closure of San Quentin’s execution chamber.1State of California. Executive Order N-09-19
The moratorium did not commute any sentence, release anyone, or repeal the underlying statute. Under California Penal Code Section 190.2, first-degree murder can still carry a death sentence when accompanied by special circumstances, including murder for financial gain, murder of a peace officer or firefighter, murder involving a bomb or explosive device, murder during the commission of certain felonies such as robbery or kidnapping, and murder involving multiple victims.2California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 190.2 Juries still return capital verdicts. What the state no longer has is any working mechanism to carry them out.
The execution chamber, built near the East Gate between 2007 and 2010, was shut down by the executive order. Its gurney and chemical delivery systems have been removed. The last execution carried out in California was that of Clarence Ray Allen by lethal injection at San Quentin on January 17, 2006.
The Legal Basis for Moving Condemned Inmates
Closing the chamber did not, by itself, empty death row. That authority came from Proposition 66, the 2016 ballot measure sold to voters as a way to speed up capital appeals. Tucked inside it was a provision allowing prison officials to transfer condemned inmates to any state facility with adequate security, breaking a long-standing rule that all death-sentenced men had to be housed at San Quentin.3California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California Capital Punishment – Section: Incarcerated People on Condemned Status
California Penal Code Section 3600 supplies the statutory language. It directs that every male person sentenced to death be delivered to the warden of the state prison designated for executions, but it explicitly permits the department to transfer that person to any other prison it determines provides sufficient security. If an execution date is ever set, the statute requires the person be returned to the designated execution facility.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 3600 – Execution of Death Penalty
Where the 512 Men Went
The Condemned Inmate Transfer Program began on February 26, 2024. By May 28 of the same year, East Block was empty. Receiving facilities had to meet a minimum threshold: at least a Level II security designation and a lethal electrified perimeter fence.5California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmate Transfer Program
As of October 2025, transferred inmates were spread across roughly 20 institutions. The largest concentrations were at:
- California Health Care Facility in Stockton: 96 people
- California State Prison, Sacramento: 62 people
- Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility: 53 people
- California Institution for Men: 46 people
Smaller numbers were placed at facilities ranging from Pelican Bay in the far north to Calipatria near the Mexican border. Before each move, the CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights Services contacted registered victims to let them know where the person who harmed them would be housed.5California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmate Transfer Program
Condemned Women
Death-sentenced women have always been housed separately, at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla. They were not sent to other prisons. Instead, all 20 women with condemned sentences were moved out of segregated housing and into general population at the same facility, where they now live alongside other incarcerated women.5California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmate Transfer Program
How Condemned Inmates Live Now
Traditional death row at San Quentin meant single-cell housing under maximum-security conditions regardless of the person’s disciplinary record. That is no longer the default. Under the CDCR’s classification system, security points are assigned based on behavioral history, length of incarceration, disciplinary record, and involvement in institutional violence. Those points determine facility placement and custody level.
Level II facilities use primarily open dormitories inside a secure perimeter that may include armed coverage. Level III adds individual cells adjacent to exterior walls with a secure perimeter and armed coverage.6Cornell Law Institute. 15 CCR 3377 – Facility Security Levels Inmates designated as close custody can be housed at Level II, III, or IV facilities and may participate in program assignments during daytime hours within the facility’s security perimeter.7New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 15 CCR 3377.1 – Incarcerated Person Custody Designations
Someone with a clean disciplinary record over many years may qualify for a Level II setting with more freedom of movement. Someone with a history of violence stays in a more restrictive Level III or IV environment.
Mandatory Work and Restitution
Once integrated into general population, condemned inmates are not just allowed to work. They are required to. California Penal Code Section 2700.1 mandates that every person sentenced to death and held by the CDCR work as many hours of faithful labor each day as departmental rules prescribe. Physical education and fitness programs do not count. Refusing to work can result in loss of privileges.8California Legislative Information. California Code, Penal Code PEN 2700.1
The financial consequence is significant. When a condemned inmate owes a court-ordered restitution fine or restitution order, the CDCR deducts 70 percent of wages and trust account deposits (or the remaining balance owed, whichever is less) and forwards the money to the California Victim Compensation Board.8California Legislative Information. California Code, Penal Code PEN 2700.1 The deduction applies to most income sources, with limited exceptions for federal disability payments and veteran benefits.9Cornell Law Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 15 Section 3097 – Incarcerated Person Restitution Fine and Direct Order Collections
One timing distinction matters. Collection of restitution fines from condemned inmates is stayed until the automatic appeal of the death sentence is exhausted. Direct restitution orders to specific victims are not stayed unless a court orders otherwise.9Cornell Law Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 15 Section 3097 – Incarcerated Person Restitution Fine and Direct Order Collections Because capital appeals routinely take decades, that distinction shapes what victims and inmates can expect over the life of the sentence.
Beyond work, transferred inmates gain access to educational programming and rehabilitative services that were largely unavailable on traditional death row. Continued participation depends on following facility rules.
Where Capital Punishment Stands in California
The death penalty statute is intact. The moratorium has no expiration date. Voters have twice rejected outright repeal, turning down Proposition 34 in 2012 and Proposition 62 in 2016. So the condemned population continues to grow, now scattered across the state prison system rather than concentrated at one facility.
For an execution to occur again, a future governor would have to lift the moratorium. The state would then need to draft and adopt a new lethal injection protocol, survive the legal challenges that would follow, and physically reassemble an execution facility. Any inmate whose execution date was set would be returned to the designated facility under Penal Code Section 3600.4California Legislative Information. California Code PEN 3600 – Execution of Death Penalty
What San Quentin Is Becoming
Governor Newsom announced in March 2023 that San Quentin State Prison would be renamed the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and physically transformed under what the state calls the California Model.10Governor of California. Governor Newsom Announces Historic Transformation of San Quentin A Transformation Advisory Council submitted more than three dozen recommendations to the CDCR in early 2024.11California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Report to Transform San Quentin Submitted to CDCR
The recommendations call for expanded rehabilitation and reentry programs, more education and job training, a smaller incarcerated population, improved housing for both inmates and staff, and investment in reentry beds for people approaching release. The design envisions a campus-style layout with a library, media center, classrooms, and shared spaces used by staff and inmates alike.
The former death row units in East Block are being repurposed as part of that plan. Where hundreds of condemned inmates once sat in isolation, the state has proposed vocational training rooms, educational facilities, and restorative justice programming. How much of the plan is built depends on funding and whether future administrations continue in the same direction.