Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed closing another prison in his revised budget proposal.
Newsom didn’t specify which prison could be closing, but did propose that it could happen by October 2026.
The news comes despite the implementation of Proposition 36, a new California law that is predicted to temporarily increase the number of people in the prison system.
“While Proposition 36 is expected to increase CDCR’s population, the population should continue its downward trend over the long term,” Newsom said in the proposal.
According to Newsom, upon full closure, the state will achieve an estimated savings of about $150 million annually. The state is currently facing a $12 billion deficit.
During his tenure, the governor has already moved to close four prisons. In 2021, Newsom closed the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California Correctional Center in Susanville in 2023, and the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in Blythe was deactivated in 2024.
Newsom also ended a lease with a privately run prison called the California City Correctional Facility, which was deactivated in 2024.
