California is moving forward with shuttering a state prison and correctional facility, to the disdain of a Central Valley legislator.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced Tuesday that the California City Correctional Facility and the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison, located in Blythe, will shutter.
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The California City Correctional Facility will be closed by March 2024, with the state prison in Blythe remaining open until March 2025.
Tuesday’s announcement adds on to the growing list of prisons that are set for closure in the Golden State.
California previously announced that the Folsom Women’s Facility, Facility C in Pelican Bay State Prison, West Facility in California Men’s Colony, Facility A in California Rehabilitation Center, Facility D in California Institution for Men and Facility D in California Correctional Institution will all be closing their doors.
State Sen. Shannon Grove (R–Bakersfield) strongly opposed the closures in a post on Twitter.
“I am outraged to learn that the Governor has decided to shut down correctional facilities in my district,” Grove wrote.
“At a time when violent crime is on the rise, fentanyl poisoning continues to threaten the lives of children, human trafficking is happening in our school systems and pedophiles are being granted early release, Californians are in desperate need of safer schools and neighborhoods. It’s time to protect our communities by making crime illegal again.”
In its announcement, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation will leave the $32 million annual lease with CoreCivic for the California City Correctional Facility.
Both facilities were closed in part due to cost cutting measures.
“CDCR’s leadership carefully evaluated the options for prison closures, pursuant to the 2022-23 budget and Penal Code requirements, and took into account several factors including cost to operate, impact of closure on the surrounding communities and the workforce; housing needs for all populations; long-term investments in state-owned and operated correctional facilities; public safety and rehabilitation; and durability of the state’s solution to prison overcrowding,” the department said in a statement.
All incarcerated prisoners will be rehoused, the state said.
