A decade after prison crowding forced California to realign its criminal justice system, the population in what once was the nation’s largest state correctional system has shrunk to the point where officials announced Tuesday they will close one of two inmate firefighter training centers.
The California Correctional Center in Susanville will close by July 2022, officials said, the second such prison closure announced in recent months. The changes have inmates’ attorneys worrying that crowding could eventually again become a problem.
The 58-year old prison, one of two in rural Lassen County in northeastern California, trains inmate firefighters who staff 14 firefighting camps in Northern California.
The number of lower-level inmates eligible for the camps has been dwindling for years because of changes in state law and most recently the pandemic. After the prison closes, all firefighter training will be at the Sierra Conservation Center in Jamestown, east of Stockton.