| Aerial View | |
| Location | Soledad, California |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Capacity | 3,727 |
| Population | 3,888 (104%) (as of fy 2009/10[1]) |
| Opened | May 1996 |
| Managed by | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Director | Anthony Hedgpeth, Warden (acting) |
Salinas Valley State Prison (SVSP) is a 300-acre (120 ha) Californian state prison located 5 miles north of Soledad, in Monterey County, California.
The prison consists of four yards: A, B, C, and D. Of the four, C is the most violent. The surrounding housing units hold level-4 and level-3 inmates, the two highest security rankings.
The inmates are segregated into five ethnic groups: southern Mexican, northern Mexican, white, black, and other (the last, including Asians and Native Americans). The whites and southern Mexicans have been waging war.
The prison had a gymnasium which, due to the prison's over-crowding, at one time had been converted into a dormitory but due to violence was shut down.
