The Sybil Brand Institute (in full, the Sybil Brand Institute For Women) was a noted county jail in Los Angeles County, California. The facility was named for Sybil Brand (1899 - 2004), a noted local philanthropist and civic leader.
The Sybil Brand Institute was completed in 1963 as a minimum- to high-security jail and prison for women, and it was the primary Los Angeles County women's correctional facility. Though designed to hold 900, its peak occupancy was 2,800. It was located at 4500 East City Terrace Drive, in Monterey Park, California.
The Sybil Brand Institute is perhaps best known as the jail where Susan Atkins admitted to fellow inmates Virginia Graham and Ronnie Howard that she and other members of the Manson "family" were responsible for the notorious Tate-LaBianca murders. Another noted inmate of this jail and prison was Susan McDougal, of Whitewater scandal fame. In addition, Chelsea Handler, a prominent comedian, was sent to the Sybil Brand Institute based on fraud charges after her sister reported that Chelsea had stolen her I.D. card and had been using it to get into alcoholic beverage establishments.
The buildings of the Sybil Brand Institute suffered extensive damage in the Northridge earthquake in 1994, and that damage caused it to be closed, belatedly and indefinitely, in 1997. Its buildings have yet to be reopened or remodeled due to persistent governmental budget shortfalls affecting both Los Angeles County and the State of California.
Since 1997, the Sybil Brand Institute has become a common location for show business productions, and it has been hosting two or three of them per month. Movies and TV shows that have been shot there include the movie Blow, with Johnny Depp, Arrest and Trial, Gangland, and the TV series 24, The X-Files, The O.C., and America's Most Wanted. As a women's jail and prison, the interior walls had been pink, but they are usually painted over before shooting starts.