While the expectation of being in prison often involves sitting in a two-person cell, being bored and fearful of prison gangs, this is not the reality for some people sentenced to prison. Instead, such inmates are assigned to programs or facilities outside the traditional prison.
These may include:
Fire Camp
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) places some people with lower security classifications in road maintenance, firefighting, and conservation camps that are run in cooperation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, as well as the Los Angeles County Fire Department. There are 43 conservation camps for adults, three of which are for people identified as women. Penal Code § 2760; Penal Code § 2780.5; CDCR website at www.cdcr.ca.gov/facility-locator/conservation-camps/
Modified Community Correctional Facilities (MCCF’s) and Other Contract Prisons
Due to prison overcrowding, the CDCR has contracted with several private companies and other public agencies to house some people in state prisons. There are in-state contract facilities called Modified Community Correctional Facilities (MCCF’s). The CDCR is also placing inmates in a facility called California City Correctional Facility (about five miles outside California City, California, north of Mojave). The facility looks like a regular prison, but it is privately owned and leased by the state. Its staff are CDCR employees. Greg Hill from our office has visited this facility.
The CDCR classification staff decide which inmates can be transferred to the MCCF’s or CF, based on classification factors such as security and custody levels, health care needs and other placement concerns. Inmates at such facilities earn the same number and type of good conduct credits while at an MCCF / CF that they would receive if at a regular CDCR prison.
Department of State Hospitals
A person who is mentally ill may be transferred involuntarily to a Department of State Hospitals (DSH) facility for stabilizing psychiatric treatment. Penal Code § 268. In non-emergency cases, the person must be given notice of the intended transfer to the state hospital and an opportunity for a hearing, a staff assistant to help prepare and participate in the hearing, and a written decision within 72 hours of the hearing. 15 C.C.R.; Vitek v. Jones (1980) 445 U.S. 480, 493-496, 100 S. Ct. 1254, 63 L. Ed. 2d 552.
In some emergency cases, an inmate may be transferred and later receive a review hearing after arrival at the state hospital. 15 C.C.R. § 3369.1(b).
At the state hospital the inmate remains under the jurisdiction of the CDCR and is subject to the CDCR’s rules and regulations. 15 C.C.R. 3369.1(c).
If the state hospital administrator concludes that the person can no longer benefit from treatment at the state hospital, they must be returned to the CDCR. Penal Code § 2685.
The DSH hospitals are Atascadero (near San Luis Obispo), Coalinga (near Fresno), Metropolitan (Norwalk), Napa, Patton (San Bernardino) and Sacramento.
CDCR Contract Prisons in Other States.
The State of California may contract with private and public facilities in other states for bed space and transfer people voluntarily and involuntarily to those facilities. The State of California began doing this in response to overcrowding in 2006 when the Governor issued an Emergency Proclamation regarding overcrowding. However, the State announced in its 2018-2019 budget that it expects to discontinue out-of-state facilities by the end of January 2019.
Out-to-Court Transfers.
A person in a CDCR prison can be transferred temporarily to the custody of a country sheriff or federal marshal for legal proceedings. This is called being “out-to-court” (OTC). Such inmates continue earning Good Conduct Credits, but may lose out on opportunities to earn Milestone Completion Credits, Rehabilitative Achievement Credits or Educational Merit Credits while they are OTC. Their transfers can be quite disruptive to an inmate because their property will be packed up and they may lose their program assignment.
Voluntary Transfer to Out-of-State or Federal Prison
An inmate in the CDCR may wish to serve their California prison term in another jurisdiction. The Western Interstate Compact (WICC) at Penal Code § 11190 and the Interstate Corrections Compact (ICC) at Penal Code § 11189 allow the State of California to enter into contracts with other states for the transfer and exchange of inmates and other statutes give California the authority to enter into such contracts with the federal government. Penal Code § 2911(a). People transferred under a Compact are eligible to earn the same Good Conduct Credits and Milestone Completion Credits as if they remained in a CDCR prison. 15 C.C.R. § 3042(b); 15 C.C.R. § 3043(d).
This article would not be possible without reference to the excellent work by the Prison Law Office in Folsom, California and their treatise, California Prison and Parole Law Handbook, which we thank them for.