Report 2003-130 Highlights - March 2004

California Department of Corrections:

Its Plans to Build a New Condemned-Inmate Complex at San Quentin Are Proceeding, but Its Analysis of Alternative Locations and Costs Was Incomplete

HIGHLIGHTS

Our review of the California Department of Corrections' (department) plans to build a new condemned-inmate complex at San Quentin revealed:

• Current condemned-inmate facilites at San Quentin do not meet many of the department's standards for maximum-security facilities.
• The department received spending authority of $220 million to build a new condemned-inmate complex and estimates completion by 2007.
• The department's analysis of where it should house its male condemned population did not consider all feasible locations and relevant costs.
• Because the department's analysis was incomplete, we can conclude neither that San Quentin is the best location for the new condemned-inmate facility nor that a better location exists.
• Benefits and drawbacks exist for both the continued use of San Quentin as a prison and its reuse for other purposes.

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