Facilities
The correctional complex sits on Point San Quentin, which comprises 432 acres (175 ha) of desirable waterfront real estate overlooking the north side of San Francisco Bay. The prison complex itself occupies 275 acres (111 ha), valued in a 2001 study at between $129 million and $664 million.
The prison complex has its own ZIP code for mail sent to inmates, 94974; the ZIP code of the adjacent community of Point San Quentin Village is 94964. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay to the south and west and by Interstate 580 to the north and east, near the northern terminus of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
As of December 2008, the prison had a design capacity of 3,082 but a total institution population of 5,256, for an occupancy rate of 170.5 percent. It has Level I ("Open dormitories without a secure perimeter") housing; Level II ("Open dormitories with secure perimeter fences and armed coverage") housing; a Reception Center (RC) which "provides short term housing to process, classify and evaluate incoming inmates"; and a Condemned unit.
As of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, the prison had 1,718 staff and an annual budget of $210 million. It is one of the largest prisons in the United States with a population of 5,222 inmates as of December 2008.
Read more about this topic: San Quentin State Prison
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