Lookup Valley State Prison Inmates

Valley State Prison Overview

Valley State Prison is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation institution in Chowchilla. The research identifies it as a Level II or medium-security male institution. It is physically in Madera County, but it is not a Madera County Jail facility. Records for sentenced people at Valley State Prison are maintained by CDCR, and the correct public locator is CDCR CIRIS.

Valley State Prison has a distinct history. CDCR says the institution was constructed and dedicated in 1995 as Valley State Prison for Women. It once housed multi-level female felons and served as CDCR's only Security Housing Unit for the female offender population. After AB 109 realignment and reductions in the female prison population, CDCR converted the institution to house Level II SNY male inmates. The conversion began in October 2012 and was completed in January 2013, when the name changed to Valley State Prison.

Valley Prison Capacity

Research lists Valley State Prison design capacity as approximately 1,961 in public CDCR-derived references, with current population to be checked in CDCR population reports. That wording matters. The capacity figure gives scale, but it is not a live count of people at Valley State Prison today. Current state prison population reporting changes over time and belongs to CDCR, not to the Madera County Jail population file.

The facility should also be separated from local jail statistics. The 2024 Madera County Grand Jury count of 462 incarcerated persons applies to the Madera County Jail. Valley State Prison is a sentenced state-prison population. Someone sentenced out of Madera County may be assigned to VSP, CCWF, or another CDCR facility, and someone housed at VSP may have been committed from a county other than Madera.

Valley State Prison Lookup

Use CDCR CIRIS for a Valley State Prison inmate lookup. CIRIS is the statewide incarcerated-person search for CDCR custody. CA.gov says the locator returns name, CDCR number, age, current location, commitment counties, admission date, and Board of Parole Hearing dates or outcomes. Those fields are the right fields for VSP because the institution holds sentenced adult men in state custody.

Do not search Valley State Prison through the Madera County Jail roster process. The county jail phone and VINE path are useful for recent adult arrests and local custody, but a state prisoner has moved into a different agency's records. If a person was recently sentenced, there can be a transfer period before the public record is clear. The CDCR Identification Unit can help with search questions during posted weekday hours.

1. Open CDCR CIRIS.
2. Search by CDCR number for the cleanest match, or use name fields when the number is unknown.
3. Review the current location field and look for Valley State Prison.
4. Compare age, admission date, and commitment counties before assuming the match is correct.
5. Use CDCR contacts, not the Madera County Jail counter, for state-prison record help.

The manifest includes a successful capture of CDCR's official Valley State Prison facility profile at the CDCR VSP page.

The facility profile identifies the CDCR institution, but the statewide CIRIS locator is still the lookup tool for confirming an incarcerated person's current CDCR location.

Valley Prison Contact

Valley State Prison's public contact information comes from CDCR. Use the main phone number for facility-level questions, then use CDCR visitor, mail, and family support resources for current procedures. If the question is about a Madera County arrest before sentencing, the county jail and court may still have the local history. If the question is about current state custody, CDCR is the source.

The research identifies O'Brian Bailey as acting Warden since July 2024. Warden names and administrative assignments can change, so current CDCR facility pages should be checked when the exact current administrator matters.

Valley State Prison Visits

Valley State Prison visitation follows CDCR state-prison visitor rules. Visitors should start with the CDCR visiting information entry point and the VSP facility profile. State prison visits generally require approval and scheduling, and the facility can impose institution-specific procedures. That makes CDCR the right source for visit dates, visitor processing, identification, clothing, property, and current restrictions.

The Madera County Jail's JailATM video visitation schedule does not apply to Valley State Prison. A person who was at the county jail may become reachable through CDCR only after transfer and state-prison intake. Search CIRIS first, confirm VSP as the current location, then use CDCR visitor rules. Do not travel based on a county jail record that may be out of date after sentencing.

Valley Prison Mail

Mail and money for Valley State Prison are handled through CDCR rules and approved services, not through the Madera County Jail mail-scanning address or JailATM. The research did not extract a VSP-specific fee table, so current deposit fees and vendor rules should be confirmed through CDCR family and friends resources or the facility profile before sending funds.

For mail, use the incarcerated person's correct name and CDCR number. That number should be confirmed through CIRIS. A county jail booking number is not the same as a CDCR number and should not be used for state-prison mail. If the person has not appeared in CIRIS, verify whether they are still in county custody, in transfer, or housed at another CDCR institution.

Valley Prison Intake

Valley State Prison intake is a state-prison process after sentencing, not local arrest booking. Madera County Jail handles local adult booking, medical screening, classification, and court-release questions. Valley State Prison handles sentenced CDCR custody, housing, programming, custody level, transfers, and prison visits. The record field that matters most after state transfer is current location in CIRIS.

A person sentenced from Madera County may not remain in Madera County. CDCR placement depends on classification, bed space, medical and mental-health needs, safety factors, and program needs. Commitment county helps connect the state-prison record back to the court case, but current location tells families where to send mail, how to plan visits, and which institution controls day-to-day custody.

About Valley State Prison

Valley State Prison is one of two CDCR prisons in Chowchilla, along with Central California Women's Facility. The two institutions make Madera County unusual for inmate-search purposes because local searches can mean county jail custody, juvenile custody, or state prison custody. VSP's conversion from a women's prison to a male institution is a key local detail, and it explains why older references may use the former Valley State Prison for Women name.

CDCR's current VSP profile should be used for program, administration, and visitor updates. The research supports the facility's basic identity as a Level II male state prison with a design-capacity reference of about 1,961 and a history tied to AB 109 realignment. For individual people, CIRIS remains the record source. For formal charges after a Madera County arrest, use court records. For current local custody before prison transfer, use Madera County Jail and VINELink.