Newest California Prison Ends 20-Year Construction Boom

DELANO, Calif. – With the completion of Kern Valley State Prison – also known as Delano II – the state’s large prison projects have come to an end. For the first time in two decades, California has no new prisons planned or under construction.

The end did not come quietly, however, as the maximum-security Kern Valley facility generated its share of controversy. The facility, which received final approved in 1999 by Gov. Gray Davis, was tied up in legal battles until construction finally began in 2002. Gov. Davis had been criticized for pushing the project through as a way to give back to the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, which made generous contributions to his and previous governors' campaigns.

Opponents also had hoped to block the prison's construction saying the facility was unnecessary and too expensive: Constructed for $379 million, the facility will have an annual operating budget estimated at $110 million to $136 million. Gov. Schwarzenegger, however, has not taken such donations and as such has come under fire for several policy changes, including reinstating the Department of Corrections' name to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The word rehabilitation was dropped by former Gov. Jerry Brown in the late 1970s.

Rehabilitation is a big concern for Gov. Schwarzenegger, who wants to stop the recidivism that has caused the state's inmate population to grow to 301,181 offenders. The state's maximum-security prison population is now 31,730. The state's DOC is operating at 194-percent capacity.

Kern Valley State Prison, which will house 5,000 of the state's maximum-security offenders by January 2006, will serve as a model for how vocational training and educational opportunities can help curb recidivism. Knowing that idleness leads to problems, the new prison's management is setting up mandatory programs designed to keep inmates occupied up to 6.5 hours each day. The prison is the state's first maximum-security facility to offer such programming.