Centinela State Prison, CA Inmate Roster

Updated on: February 2, 2024

Visitation Hours

Sunday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday Closed
Thursday Closed
Friday Closed
Saturday 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Holiday Closed

Centinela State Prison Basic Information

Facility Name: Centinela State Prison
Facility Type: State Prison
Authority: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Address: 2302 Brown Road, Imperial, CA, 92251-0731
Phone: 760-337-7900
Capacity: 5097
Date Established: 1993
Offender Gender: Male Offenders
City: Imperial
Postal Code: 92251-0731
State: California
County: Imperial County
Official Website: Website

Centinela State Prison, CA, also popularly known as California State Prison, is a male all security correctional facility in Imperial County, California. It is located about 20 miles from Imperial and El Centro towns. The facility sits on a 2000 acres stretch of land and is considered among the largest prisons not only in California but also across the United States of America.

It features several housing units, each hosting different security-level inmates. These include 2 Level four, 1 Level three, 1 Level three SNY yards, and 1 Level one yard. The Level three SNY yards consist of five two-tier structures on each yard, about 100 double occupancy cells in each building, armed coverage, and a razor wire cinder block or chain-link fenced perimeter walls.

On the other hand, the Level one yard has an open dormitory in two buildings, each with a capacity of about 200 inmates each and surrounded by a chain-link fenced perimeter wall. Other structures at this facility include a Correctional Treatment Center (CTC) for medical and dental treatment, and administrative segregation (ADSEG) with a capacity of 175 inmates, and a fully-franked Firehouse referenced as Centinela Fire Department (CEP). The fire department comprises of level on inmates, trained as wildland firefighters. The facility also boasts of a fully-operational library that was established in 2016.

The Facility Contacts

To contact this facility, you can engage Warden Raymond Madden at (760) 337-7900 or check out the facility’s website. You could also use the following address to send your mail:

Official mails

California State Prison, Centinela (CEN)
2302 Brown Road
Imperial, CA 92251

Inmate mails

These are according to the specific housing unit where an inmate is housed:

Facility A
P.O. Box 901
Imperial, CA 92251-0901

Facility B
P.O. Box 911
Imperial, CA 92251-0911

Facility C
P.O. Box 921
Imperial, CA 92251-921

Facility D
P.O. Box 931
Imperial, CA 92251-0931

About Centinela State Prison’s Warden

The facility’s current warden is Raymond Madden. He was appointed as the prison’s warden in February 2016, but he had been serving in other official capacities since 2010, including as an associate warden and chief deputy warden.

Raymond is an experienced individual in the prison’s department, having served in other correctional facilities. He served as a captain, lieutenant, sergeant, and correctional officer at Calipatria State Prison between 1991 and 2010. Moreover, he was a correctional officer at Pelican Bay State Prison between 1990 and 1991 and was in the US Marine from 1983 to 1987.

Rehabilitation Programs

Inmates incarcerated at this correctional facility are offered various rehabilitation programs that come in handy to help them turn their lives around and become better members of society. When they leave incarceration, these programs help them start over; get jobs or even progress with their education.

Some of the programs offered at this prison include the following:

Long-Term Offender Program (LTOP); this program provides evidence-based programming to offenders who are looking to win parole. The program provides cognitive-behavioral treatment to suppress criminal needs in a bid to avoid chances of inmates reoffending. It covers the following areas; Criminal Thinking, Anger Management, Substance Use Disorder Treatment, Family Relationships, Denial Management, Victim Impact, among many others.
Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment (CBT); this program seeks to help inmates identify and change or avoid destructive criminal thought patterns that may influence them to commit crimes.
Vocational Training; inmates also partake in any of the following vocational training programs; Building Maintenance, Roofing and Welding, Small Engine Repair, Auto Body, Auto Mechanics, Small Engine Repair, Office Services/ Related Technologies (OSRT), and Electrical.
Academic Programs; offenders also participate in some academic programs, including Independent Study, Literacy Lab, Voluntary Education Program (VEP), GED, and Adult Basic Education (ABE I, ABE II, ABE III).
Religious programs for all Faiths
Creative Conflict Resolution Workshops
Kairos Christian Fellowship
Service Crews
Alternatives to Violence Programs
Alcoholics/Narcotics Anonymous
TUMI Discipleship Program
Choice Theory/Internal Empowerment Coaching
Life Without a Crutch Workshops
Cage Your Rage Workshops

Sending Commissary Money to Inmates

Inmates in all California correctional facilities, including Centinela State Prison, can receive commissary funds from friends and family or any approved lawful sources. Consequently, upon getting booked at California State Prison, an offender is expected to set up a trust account. This account enables the inmate to purchase commissaries or pay expected fees or fines. If, for instance, an inmate owes the facility any outstanding, the institution can deduct up to 50% of the amount deposited.

You can send funds to an inmate via mail or preferably online through electronic funds transfer using the approved companies.

Sending by mail; you can send certified money orders, cashier’s check, or personal checks. Using personal checks is way faster than money orders. However, overall, this is the slowest mean since the checks or the money orders could be held for up to 30 days since deposition.
Sending Online; you can also send your funds online via JPAY. This is arguably the fastest means of cash transfer to an inmate. However, you have to provide the correct inmate credentials to send the money to the right inmate, including inmate I.D. and full name.

Inmates use the funds to purchase commissary items that the facility might not provide. Such include snacks, stamps, envelopes, food, hygiene products, clothing, and writing materials, among many others.

Visitation

Visitations at Centinela State Prison are limited to Saturdays, Sundays, four holidays, Thanksgiving Day, July 4^th, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. The visits happen from 7.30 am to 3 pm. To learn more about visitation and acquire new knowledge about visits at this facility, you can check out their website. Moreover, the State of California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has an 800 Visitor’s Information number that gives ideal guidance.

Even better, to fully understand visitation at this facility, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has an easy-to-decipher visitation guidebook to guide you accordingly. Before choosing to visit an inmate, it is imperative to go through the 28-page booklet to know what is expected of you and your inmate of interest.

Moreover, before visiting, you have to engage the prison’s authorities to schedule your visit. You can contact the facility on their official number or use the faster online booking via the VPASS system. This system allows you to schedule your visit faster, and you can effortlessly check your visiting status to ensure your application to visit has been accepted or confirm whether your scheduling day is ideal for visiting. Before you are allowed to visit, you have to first get approved by the prison authorities.

The approval stage entails filling a visitor questionnaire, which will be mailed to you by the inmate your wish to visit. The questionnaire has the inmate’s signature to confirm that they are interested in your visit. You have to fill the questionnaire accordingly with the right details; omission or filling inaccurate details could deny you a visit. After filling it, you are then expected to send it to the following address:

California State Prison, Centinela
Visiting Sergeant
PO Box 731
Imperial, CA 92251-0731

If your application to visit is accepted, your inmate of interest will be notified so they can notify you too. However, if you are denied your visit, the facility will send you a letter with the denial reasons. If you have been recently released from jail or are facing criminal charges, your visit might not be approved.

Visitation also comes with several strict rules that each stakeholder is expected to adhere to religiously. If either the inmate or the visitor breaches these rules, the inmate’s visitation right could be disregarded.

Some of the basic rules include the following:

Offenders in the ADSEG are limited to non-contact visits; this means a glass partition between the visitor and the inmate.

Adult inmates are expected to provide photo identification to be processed for a visit. The ID should be current and valid.

Individuals below 18 years are expected to be accompanied by an approved adult visitor.

Upon approved entry, you can bring with you the following items:

Money, up to $ 50 per adults and $ 2 for minors
Two keys with no attachments
A handkerchief or an unopened pack of tissues
A small clear bag or plastic purse
A prescribed pair of glasses
Ten photos; not larger than 8’ by 10’ in size, with no gang or sexual depictions and not Polaroids. They are inspected before you can enter with them.
Ideal documents not more than ten pages. These are also strictly inspected.

Visitors are also expected to observe the recommended ideal dressing code. The dressing code comprises of four critical aspects:

Visitors cannot wear anything that looks like what the inmates or the staff wear.
You should dress modestly and conservatively. You will be denied entry if you are dressed scantily in clothes that expose your nudity. Moreover, gang-related clothing or gang-related artworks and signs cannot be allowed.
No clothing that cannot be taken off if you do not clear at the metal detector. No clothes with metal buttons or underwire inner-wear.

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