New information about the upcoming partial closure of the California Men's Colony (CMC) was included in a newly-released San Luis Obispo County Grand Jury report.
Every year, the Grand Jury inspects law enforcement detention facilities in the county, including the county jail, juvenile hall, the county's psychiatric health facility, and CMC.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) announced in December 2022 that CMC's West Facility, which houses medium and minimum-security inmates, is slated for closure. The East Facility will remain open.
According to the Grand Jury's report, that closure is expected to take place by Nov. 6, 2023. The report says the E, F and G units of the West Facility will be closed while the M unit, which houses inmates trained to fight wildfires, will remain open.
The CDCR previously said that inmates in the affected units would be moved to other yards or prisons based on their custody needs.
The SLO County Grand Jury report also noted that while CMC's West Facility was built more than 75 years ago as military barracks during World War II, the buildings appear to be in good shape. However, the Grand Jury found the northwest corner of the facility to be a security concern due to the potential for people to smuggle drugs and cell phones into the prison by tossing them over the fence.
Click here to read the full Grand Jury report.
