NEWS

October 21, 2009
Kelso and State Agree to Build Prison for 1,733 sick and mentally ill prisoners

State corrections officials and a court-appointed overseer of prison healthcare have agreed to build a new 1,733-bed facility for sick and mentally ill inmates at an estimated cost of $1.1 billion.

The deal, announced today, appears to end a long-running standoff between state officials and the receiver, J. Clark Kelso, who was appointed by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson to improve medical care for inmates.

Kelso originally proposed seven new facilities with 10,000 beds, along with renovations at existing prisons, at a cost of $8 billion. State officials refused to allocate the money.

The new facility, in Stockton, would be partly on the site of a youth prison, the Karl Holton Youth Correctional Facility, which would be torn down.

Construction would be funded with bonds approved by the Legislature two years ago and would begin in 2010. The facility would cost $297 million a year to operate.

Kelso said he still plans renovations of healthcare clinics at other prisons.

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