
One of the most significant factors driving prison infrastructure needs and spending is the age and condition of the state’s existing facilities.

The major factors that drive prison infrastructure needs and spending include: CDCR reports significant infrastructure needs throughout the system that could cost billions of dollars to fully address. Significant Infrastructure Needs Throughout Prison System. We note that to reduce prison overcrowding, the state also houses inmates in beds outside of the 34 state‑owned prisons such as contracted prisons.

Twelve of these prisons were originally constructed between the 1850s and 1960s, with the remaining 22 being built from 1980 through 2013. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) operates and maintains 34 prisons, which contain extensive amounts of infrastructure essential to prison operations, including health care facilities, firehouses, and waste water treatment plants.
