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Avenal State Prison (ASP) is a male-only
California's Correctional Facilities.
15 Oct 2007. Inmate programs include:
Monthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
As of April 30, 2020, Avenal was incarcerating people at 143.7% of its design capacity, with 4,197 occupants.
In the early 1980s, "almost everyone" in the town of Avenal desired the prison to be built to improve the economic status of the town.Walters, Dan. A Town That Wants Prison. ''
Prison cat program declawed; fur flies: Avenal's feral felines were humanely trapped, neutered and freed.
''
Avenal State Prison website
{{State prisons in California Prisons in California Buildings and structures in Kings County, California 1987 establishments in California
state prison
This is a list of U.S. state prisons (2010) (not including federal prisons or county jails in the United States or prisons in U.S. territories):
* Alabama
* Alaska
* Arizona
* Arkansas
* California
* Colorado
* Connecticut
* Delaware
...
in the city of Avenal
Avenal (Spanish for "Oat field") is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Avenal is located southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of . It is part of the Hanford– Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA Code 25260), which en ...
, Kings County, California
Kings County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. The population was 152,486 at the 2020 census. The California Department of Finance estimated the county's population was 152,940 as of July 1, 2019.http://dof.ca.gov/Forecasting ...
, United States.
Facilities
The structures on ASP's include "17 open dorm buildings, six 200-bed open dorm E-bed buildings, six converted gymnasiums, a 100-cell administrative segregation unit, and a 10-bed firehouse." It is a "low-medium security" or "Level II" prison with "open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed coverage."California Department of Corrections and RehabilitationCalifornia's Correctional Facilities.
15 Oct 2007. Inmate programs include:
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous (NA), founded in 1953, describes itself as a "nonprofit fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem." Narcotics Anonymous uses a 12-step model developed for people with varied subst ...
, Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
, SAP, autobody, metal fabrication, plumbing and electrical, PIA furniture, warehouse and egg production.
Population, staffing and budget
As of fiscal year 2006/2007, ASP had 1,603 staff and an annual budget of $136 million. ASP has in the past been described as the "most overcrowded prison in the state f California;Furillo, Andy. Health care crisis behind bars: Three deaths in two months focus federal attention on state's most overcrowded facility. ''The Sacramento Bee
''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'', May 4, 2007 its September 2007 occupancy rate was 259.7%.California Department of Corrections and RehabilitationMonthly Report of Population as of Midnight September 30, 2007.
As of April 30, 2020, Avenal was incarcerating people at 143.7% of its design capacity, with 4,197 occupants.
History
In the early 1980s, "almost everyone" in the town of Avenal desired the prison to be built to improve the economic status of the town.Walters, Dan. A Town That Wants Prison. ''The Sacramento Bee
''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
'', May 12, 1985. It was reportedly "the first prison to be solicited by a local community." As of 1984, the plans were to build "the largest enclosed security compound in the nation."New prison to be largest. ''Daily Breeze
The ''Daily Breeze'' is a 57,000-circulation daily newspaper published in Hermosa Beach, California
Hermosa Beach (''Hermosa'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Beautiful") is a beachfront city in Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of Calif ...
'' (Torrance, CA), July 18, 1984.
Despite some opposition, Governor George Deukmejian
Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (;
June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also serve ...
signed a bill into law in September 1985 to authorize "$117 million from existing prison construction funds to build the prison", and groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
occurred in December 1985. The first inmates arrived in January 1987.
According to newspaper articles, the original name of the prison was "California Correctional Institution at Avenal", which the Kings County Board of Supervisors changed to "Avenal State Prison" in December 1987. According to the CDCR Web site, ASP "was originally known as Kings County State Prison. On February 22, 1988, it was officially named Avenal State Prison."
In 2001, a trap–neuter–return
Trap–neuter–return (TNR), also known as trap–neuter–release, is a controversial method that attempts to manage populations of feral cats. The process involves live-trapping the cats, having them neutered, ear-tipped for identification, and, ...
program was begun for feral cat
A feral cat or a stray cat is an unowned domestic cat (''Felis catus'') that lives outdoors and avoids human contact: it does not allow itself to be handled or touched, and usually remains hidden from humans. Feral cats may breed over dozens ...
s that had lived on the prison grounds since it was built. ASP officials stopped the program (in February 2005) due to a perceived lack of effectiveness.Jimenez, SarahPrison cat program declawed; fur flies: Avenal's feral felines were humanely trapped, neutered and freed.
''
The Fresno Bee
''The Fresno Bee'' is a daily newspaper serving Fresno, California, and surrounding counties in that U.S. state's central San Joaquin Valley. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and ranks fourth in circulation among the company's newspapers. I ...
'', September 25, 2006. Subsequently, "the prison traps cats and volunteers are allowed to pick them up at the prison." The organization Feral Paws Rescue continues to advocate for reinstatement of the trap–neuter–return program.
In 2005/2006, ASP and Pleasant Valley State Prison
Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) is a minimum-to-maximum security state prison in Coalinga, California, Coalinga, Fresno County, California. The facility has housed convicted murderers Sirhan Sirhan, Erik Menendez, X-Raided, and Hans Reiser, ...
(PVSP) were "particularly affected" by valley fever
A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...
, with "150 new cases from PVSP and 30 from ASP" in 2005 and 514 at PVSP and 91 at ASP in 2006.
The receiver of the California state prison health care system blamed three deaths among ASP inmates in December 2006 on a "complete breakdown in medical care coverage."
As of October 31, 2020, Avenal State Prison has seen 2,881 cases of, and 8 deaths caused by, COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Notable inmates
*Robert John Bardo
Robert John Bardo (born January 2, 1970) is an American man serving life imprisonment without parole after being convicted in October 1991 for the July 18, 1989, murder of American actress and model Rebecca Schaeffer, whom he had stalked for t ...
(born 1970) – the murderer of Rebecca Schaeffer
Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer (November 6, 1967 – July 18, 1989) was an American actress and model. She began her career as a teen model before moving on to acting. In 1986, she landed the role of Patricia "Patti" Russell in the CBS comedy ''My Sis ...
*Gerald Parker
Gerald Parker (born 1955) is an American serial killer who raped and murdered five women in Orange County, California. A sixth victim, who was pregnant at the time of the attack, survived, but her child was delivered stillborn. The crimes took p ...
(born 1955) - serial killer; was held during trial
*Billy Preston
William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he ba ...
(1946-2006) - musician sentenced for cocaine possession, violation of probation, and insurance fraud
References
External links
Avenal State Prison website
{{State prisons in California Prisons in California Buildings and structures in Kings County, California 1987 establishments in California