Mule Creek State Prison (MCSP) is a

California State Prison The California State Prison System is a system of prisons, fire camps, contract beds, reentry programs, and other special programs administered by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Division of Adult Institutions ...

for men. It was opened in June 1987, and covers located in

Ione Ione may refer to: Places * Ione, California, a city * Ione, Colorado, an unincorporated community * Ione, Nevada, an unincorporated community * Ione, Oregon, a city * Ione, Washington, a town * Ionopolis or Ione, an ancient town near Antioch ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The prison has a staff of 1,242 and an annual operating budget of $157 million. As of July 31, 2022, MCSP was incarcerating people at 115.2% of its design capacity, with 3,785 occupants.

SNY Facility

Amador County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Ione Highlighted 0636672

In 2005, MCSP became the only California state prison exclusively for Sensitive Needs Yards (SNY) inmates. SNY inmates are segregated from the general prison population for their own safety. Many are gang dropouts, informants, sex offenders, and former law enforcement officers.

Notable inmates

Current notable inmates

* Michael Carson – Serial killer *Charley Charles née Charles Rothenberg – attempted murder of his son David by burning * John Albert Gardner – Rapist and killer * Joshua Jenkins - Mass murderer *Luis Reynaldo "Tree Frog" Johnson - Pedophile, rapist, and kidnapper *

Patrick Kearney Patrick Wayne Kearney (born September 24, 1939), also known as The Trash Bag Killer, is an American serial killer and necrophile who murdered a minimum of 21 boys and young men from 1962 to 1977 in southern California. He is one of three men re ...

– Prolific serial killer, rapist, and necrophile *James Michael Munro – Accomplice of serial killer

William Bonin William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also known as the Freeway Killer, was an American serial killer and twice-paroled sex offender who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of twenty-one young men and boy ...

Scott Peterson Scott Lee Peterson (born October 24, 1972) is an American convicted murderer. In 2004, he was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Laci, who was pregnant at the time, and the second-degree murder of their unborn son, Conner, in Mod ...

- Murderer *

Robert Rozier Robert Earnest Rozier Jr. (born July 28, 1955) is an American murderer and former defensive end. Born in Alaska but raised in California, Rozier was a high-school and collegiate athlete before briefly playing professional gridiron football. In ...

– Former football player and convicted serial killer *

Rollen Stewart Rollen Fredrick Stewart (born February 23, 1944), also known as Rock'n Rollen and Rainbow Man, is a man who was a fixture in American sports culture best known for wearing a rainbow-colored afro-style wig and, later, holding up signs reading " Joh ...

– Convicted kidnapper *

Anthony Wimberly Anthony Rene Wimberly (né Lee; born October 26, 1962) is an American criminal and serial killer. Between December 1984 and January 1985, he murdered three women in Oakland, California, Oakland for the purpose of robbery, as well as raping a 12-ye ...

- Serial killer

Former 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 thr ...

– Stalker and killer 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 ...

, transferred to

Avenal State Prison Avenal State Prison (ASP) is a male-only state prison in the city of Avenal, Kings County, California, United States. Facilities The structures on ASP's include "17 open dorm buildings, six 200-bed open dorm E-bed buildings, six converted gymna ...

Avenal, California 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 enc ...

John Linley Frazier John Linley Frazier (January 26, 1946 – August 13, 2009), also known as The Killer Prophet, was an American mass murderer who killed five people in Santa Cruz County, California, the first of three men who would go on killing sprees in Santa Cr ...

– Mass murderer; committed suicide by hanging in 2009 *

Roger Kibbe Roger Reece Kibbe (May 21, 1939 – February 28, 2021) was an American serial killer and rapist known as the "I-5 Strangler". Kibbe found all but one of his victims on freeways around Sacramento, California. In 1991 he was sentenced to 25 years ...

– Serial killer and rapist; killed at Mule Creek in 2021 *

Suge Knight Marion Hugh "Suge" Knight Jr. (; born April 19, 1965) is a American former music executive, convicted felon, and the co-founder and former CEO of Death Row Records. Knight is considered a central figure in gangsta rap's commercial success in ...

– Record producer, music executive, former American football player released in 2004, later charged with manslaughter *

Bruce Lisker Bruce Lisker is a man who at age 17 was wrongly arrested, tried, and convicted for the March 10, 1983 murder of his adoptive mother Dorka, 66, in the family's Sherman Oaks residence. Lisker served 26 years, 5 months, and 3 days of a 16-years-t ...

– Wrongfully convicted of murder; released in 2009 *

Big Lurch Antron Singleton (born September 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Big Lurch, is a convicted murderer, cannibal and former rapper. He is serving a life sentence for murdering 21-year-old roommate Tynisha Ysais and eating parts of her bo ...

– Former rapper convicted of killing and cannibalizing his roommate, transferred to

California Health Care Facility California Health Care Facility (CHCF) is a list of California state prisons, state prison for incarcerated patients with long-term medical needs or acute mental health needs. The prison is located in Stockton, California, on the site of the forme ...

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

Andrew Luster Andrew Stuart Luster (born December 15, 1963) is heir to the Max Factor cosmetics fortune and a convicted sex offender. He is the great-grandson of cosmetics giant Max Factor Sr. In 2003 he was convicted of multiple sexual assaults using the d ...

– Rapist, transferred to

Valley State Prison Valley State Prison (VSP), previously the Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW), is a state prison in Chowchilla, California. It is across the road from Central California Women's Facility. It was formerly a prison for women. It is north of ...

Lyle Menendez Joseph Lyle Menendez (born January 10, 1968) and Erik Galen Menendez (born November 27, 1970) are American brothers who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents, José and Mary Louise ("Kitty") Menéndez. During the trial, the Me ...

– Killed his parents alongside his brother, transferred to

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJDCF or RJD) is a California state prison located in unincorporated southern San Diego County, California, near San Diego.William Bonin William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also known as the Freeway Killer, was an American serial killer and twice-paroled sex offender who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of twenty-one young men and boy ...

; murdered in 2016 *

Herbert Mullin Herbert William Mullin (April 18, 1947 – August 18, 2022) was an American serial killer who killed 13 people in California in the early 1970s. He confessed to the killings, which he claimed prevented earthquakes. In 1973, after a trial to det ...

– Serial killer and mass murderer, died in prison in August 2022 * Gregory Powell – Kidnapped two police officers and killed one of them; died of prostate cancer in 2012 *

Geronimo Pratt Elmer "Geronimo" Pratt (September 13, 1947 – June 2, 2011), also known as Geronimo Ji-Jaga and Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, was a decorated military veteran and a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s an ...

– Military veteran wrongfully convicted of murder; released in 1997 and died of a heart attack in 2011 *

Hans Reiser Hans Reiser (born December 19, 1963) is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and convicted murderer. In April 2008, Reiser was convicted of the first-degree murder of his wife, Nina Reiser, who disappeared in September 2006. He subseq ...

– Former computer programmer and entrepreneur convicted of killing his wife, transferred to

Correctional Training Facility Correctional Training Facility (CTF), commonly referenced as Soledad State Prison, is a state prison located on U.S. Route 101, north of Soledad, California, adjacent to Salinas Valley State Prison. Facilities The institution is divided into ...

Soledad, California Soledad is a city in Monterey County, California, United States. It is in the Salinas Valley, southeast of Salinas, the county seat. Soledad's population was 24,925 at the 2020 census, down from 25,738 in 2010. Soledad's origins started with ...

* David Turpin – Convicted of kidnapping and torturing his own children, transferred to

Corcoran Corcoran is an Irish surname, the original Irish language form being meaning 'descendant of Corcrán'. The name itself is derived from meaning 'purple'. History The name Corcoran is an anglicisation of the names of two Gaelic clans. The f ...

* Charles 'Tex' Watson – Manson family cult member; later transferred to

Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility (RJDCF or RJD) is a California state prison located in unincorporated southern San Diego County, California, near San Diego.Mule Creek State Prison
– Official website {{State prisons in California 1987 establishments in California Prisons in California Buildings and structures in Amador County, California