California names the 5th state prison to close because of falling inmate population

Gov. Gavin Newsom shouldn’t expect much pushback from the next city in line to lose a state prison.

Norco, in Riverside County, for years has been lobbying to close the California Rehabilitation Center, arguing the city can find a better use for the site. It was an art deco hotel before it was a state prison.

Now, the prison is on track to close in 2026. Newsom’s corrections department said on Tuesday that the prison is no longer needed because of the state’s falling incarcerated population.

It’ll be the fifth to close during Newsom’s administration. The state expects to save about $150 million by closing the prison.

Other prison cities fought the closures by suing the state or lobbying to hold on to the jobs.

Not Norco. It posted a statement on social media saying officials look forward to the “adaptive reuse” of the former hotel.

“The Norco City Council remains hopeful that one day, this historic gem will be restored to its former glory as a resort and will become a regional economic driver,” the city statement read.

About 1,200 people work at the prison. They won’t necessarily be laid off when the prison closes because some will be able to transfer to other sites.

Newsom signaled his intent to close another prison when he released his budget proposal in May and grappled with a $12 billion deficit.

The corrections department “is committed to managing its resources responsibly to enhance public safety and best serve the people of California. California’s 2025-26 budget called for a prison closure, one of many challenging actions required to address the state’s fiscal position.” Newsom’s corrections department said in a written statement about closing the Norco prison.

In the past, the union representing California correctional officers has not spoken out against Newsom closing prisons. Instead, it worked to improve pay and working conditions for its members as the prison population plummeted from a peak of about 170,000 to today’s 91,000 people.

That changed this week when its president issued a statement criticizing the closure of the Norco site.

“Shuttering [the prison in Norco] eliminates essential physical space that relieves overcrowding, supports rehabilitative programming, and maintains a workable ratio between staff and incarcerated individuals,” Neil Flood, president of the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, said in a written statement. “This balance is critical to safety for all Californians: reducing capacity while raising population density leads to more violence overall, both within institutions and beyond their walls.”

This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.