California Men’s Colony to cut nearly 300 jobs at same time as partial closure, state says
California Men’s Colony will lose nearly 300 jobs when the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation closes the state prison’s West Facility, the agency confirmed Monday.
As part of a string of reductions statewide, the lower-security West Facility at the prison in San Luis Obispo will be shuttered, though a timeline for the shutdown has not been announced.
As of September, CMC housed 3,360 inmates.
Dana Simas, CDCR spokesperson, told the Tribune via email that the agency will eliminate positions for 250 correctional officers, 23 sergeants, nine lieutenants, two captains, two correctional counselors and one associated warden by the time the West Facility closure is complete.
“This is only a point-in-time number and does not necessarily mean staff will be laid off,” Simas said. “We will work through voluntary transfer processes within CMC or nearby institutions that have vacancies.”
The prison is one of San Luis Obispo County’s top employers, employing 1,281 people as of September, according to the quarterly statistical report from the corrections department.
The prison was looking to fill 178 vacant positions as of September, according to the report.
California Men’s Colony’s West Facility is a Level I and II complex with four independent facilities. It houses medium- and minimum-security, non-designated programming facility inmates in a dormitory setting, according to the department’s website.
In September, the facility housed 1,955 Level I and II inmates, according to the statistical report. The inmates are expected to be transferred to another prison.
The remaining wing of the prison is its East Facility, a medium-security five-unit facility for Level III inmates with a population of 1,181 as of September.
The West Facility’s closure comes “with an eye toward fiscal responsibility” as prison population statewide has decreased, according to a December news release from the state corrections department.
Five other prisons will have partial closures in addition to CMC, the CDCR said, while the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison will be shut down completely by March 2025.
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 4:25 PM.
