California Correctional Center (CCC) was a state prison in the city of Susanville in Northern California."." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on September 25, 2011."California Correctional Center." California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Retrieved on September 25, 2011. "711-045 Center Rd. Susanville, CA 96127-0790" It was a minimum-security facility.
Also located in Susanville is the High Desert State Prison (California) (maximum security), and nearby the Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong. Lassen County has a concentration of prisons, which employ half of the adult population of Susanville. The state facilities prisons were severely overcrowded until 2012, when legislation was passed requiring reduction in prison populations. Many facilities are still above design capacity, increasing risk to correction officers and inmates.
Facilities CCC's missions are "to receive, house, and train minimum-custody inmates for placement into one of the institution's 18 Northern California conservation camps" and "to provide meaningful work, training, and education programs for inmates who do not meet the criteria for assignment to a conservation camp." It has including Level l ("Open dormitories without a secure perimeter") housing, Level ll ("Open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed coverage") housing, Level lll ("Individual cells, fenced perimeters and armed coverage") housing, and camps.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. California's Correctional Facilities. Oct 15, 2007. As of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, CCC had 1,184 staff and an annual budget of $139 million.
As of September 2007, it had a design capacity of 3,883 but a total institution population of 6,093, for an occupancy rate of 156.9 percent. Due to AB109, the inmate population was reduced to 2889 as of March 13, 2012.California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
History
The prison was built in 1963 as a minimum-security facility. It was expanded in 1987 to include facilities to accommodate medium-security inmates."Susanville Puts Effort Behind Bars, Helps Illinois Town Seeking Prison." Daily News of Los Angeles, July 19, 1987.Herivel, Tara, and Paul Wright. Prison Nation: The Warehousing of America's Poor. New York: Routledge, 2003.
Among the vocational programs at CCC, the "certified 90-day horse gentling program" for wild horses, begun in 1987, has received much attention.Deaton, Christiane. "Humanizing Prisons with Animals: A Closer Look at "Cell Dogs" and Horse Programs in Correctional Institutions", Journal of Correctional Education, March 2005, Vol. 56, Issue 1, pp. 46-62. The federal Bureau of Land Management supplies wild horses captured from the "high desert border country of northeastern California and western Nevada"; inmates "are not paid for their participation."Snyder, George. "Convicts and Mustangs: Up in the high desert, at the California Correctional Center in Susanville, prisoners and wild horses come together in a program meant to change lives" San Francisco Chronicle, September 27, 1998. After the program, the horses "become candidates for the periodic public horse adoptions held at the prison." The program is thought to benefit inmates; as one participant said, "it teaches you patience and teaches you that if you want something, you have to work at it."Voet, Gary. "Of Mustangs and Men: an Extraordinary Prison Program is Transforming Wild Horses - and Inmates", Sacramento Bee, May 13, 1998.
In 2004, the anti-prison political action group Californians United for a Responsible Budget coalition (which advocates for "lowering the number of inmates and prisons") suggested that CCC and three other prisons be closed as a cost-cutting measure, but CCC continued to operate. Advocates wanting to improve prison conditions gained passage of legislation in 2012 requiring reduction in the severe overcrowding in state prisons.
In October 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger "directed inmate firefighters and staff from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation," including those from CCC, to help fight the California wildfires."Gov. Schwarzenegger Directs CDCR to Utilize Inmate Fire Crews in Response to Major Wildfires" , Press release, Oct 22, 2007.
On December 20, 2016, a riot erupted at the prison involving approximately 100 prisoners.
The prison was scheduled to close in June 2023. However, defenders of the California Correctional Center sued the state, which prompted a judge in rural Lassen County to issue a temporary restraining order which halted the closure.
The California Correctional Center was fully deactivated as of June 30, 2023.
A side effect of the prison closing is the impact on the local economy as the prison system in remote areas like Susanville relied on the prison for jobs. From the announcement of the closure in 2021, the population dropped from a peak of 16,000 to 14,000 in 2024. The elementary school in the area lost 10% of enrolled students from 2021 to 2025-2026 school year.
Notable inmates Brandon Mclnerney (born 1994), murderer of Larry F. King Now located in Folsom State Prison. Hugo Pinell (born 1945), member of the San Quentin Six; was sentenced for assault in 1970
In popular culture The documentary film Prison Town, USA, was shown as part of the P.O.V. series on PBS television in July 2007.Public Broadcasting Service page on Prison Town, USA. Accessed Nov 11, 2007. It explores the effects upon the residents of rural Susanville of living near the CCC, High Desert State Prison, and the nearby Federal Correctional Institution, Herlong, which was opening when the film was made. In "job-starved rural America, ... residents see them as the last and only chance for employment after work at the lumber mill or the dairy dries up."Taylor, Robert. "'Prison Town' a view from outside," Contra Costa Times, 28 July 2007; hosted at Mercury News.
See also List of California state prisons
References
External links California Correctional Center website