California State Prison - Sacramento

California State Prison - Sacramento (SAC) is a male-only state prison located in Folsom, California. The facility is also referred to as Sacramento State Prison, CSP-Sacramento, and CSP-SAC.

California State Prison, Sacramento is adjacent to Folsom State Prison (FSP), so they share the same mailing address, which is Represa, CA 95671.

The capacity at CSP Sacramento is 1,828. However, more than 2,000 prisoners are housed at this facility.

CSP-SAC is primarily a Level IV institution, consisting of twenty- four semi-autonomous housing units and one stand alone Administrative Segregation Unit which houses difficult inmates. They are all surrounded by a Lethal Electrified Perimeter Fence.

There is also a Level I Minimum Support Facility (MSF). and CSP-SAC has three of the four levels of care identified by the Mental Health Services Delivery System: Correctional Clinical Case Management System, Enhanced Outpatient Program, and Mental Health Crisis Bed.

CSP-SAC sits on 882 acres, sharing this property with Folsom State Prison, Folsom Women’s Facility, and the California Prison Industry Authority.

The level I housing units are open dormitories without a secure perimeter. Level IV housing units have cells with a fenced perimeter, electronic security, and armed officers.

The prison has three similar but separate self-contained facilities, each comprised of eight housing blocks and a recreation yard.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

The visiting hours at California State Prison, Sacramento are:

• Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Sundays 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Four holidays: New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

The hours are approximate, and the line to get into the visiting room is longer earlier in the day.

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has an 800 Visitor’s Information number that will give you detailed information about visits at CSP Sacramento. The number is 1-800-374-8474, and all you need to do is follow the directions on the recording.

You can also visit their website www.cdcr.ca.gov. First, click on Prisons, and then click on California State Prison, Sacramento.

Both the 800 Visitors’ Information number and website will give you detailed information on visits, as well as updates on lockdowns, medical quarantines, or other circumstances that affect visiting.

To answer all of the questions you might have about visiting an inmate at CSP Sacramento, the CDCR has put together a detailed Visitation Guidebook. We highly recommend that you read through all 28 pages, so you understand what to expect when you visit an inmate, as well as what is expected of you.

We also recommend that you schedule a visit in advance online using the VPASS system. This will reduce your wait time, and guarantee you a spot in the visiting room. On the day of your scheduled visit, you can check CSP Sacramento’s visiting status to make sure they are accepting visitors that day.

Getting Approved for a Visit

Before visiting an inmate at CSP Sacramento - or any other California state prison - you must first get on the approved visiting list. The process is as follows:

• Complete a visitor questionnaire. To obtain this form, the prisoner you wish to visit must mail it to you. The prisoner must also sign this questionnaire first before mailing it out because their signature is their consent to add you to their visiting list.
• You must fill out the questionnaire completely and accurately or you could be denied.
• The CDCR will conduct a background check for arrests and convictions when processing the application.
• Mail the completed questionnaire to:

California State Prison, Sacramento
Visiting Sergeant
PO Box 290002
Represa, CA 95671-0002

• If you are approved to visit, the prisoner will be notified and then it is their job to notify you. Once you are approved, you are listed in the computer as being an approved visitor for that specific prisoner, and you do not need to bring any proof of approval with you to the prison on the day of your visit.
• If you are denied, the prison will send you a letter giving the reason for disapproval, and the prisoner will also receive notice, but will not be given the reason.

Contact, Non-Contact, and Family Visits

Prisoners who are in the general population may receive contact visits. At a contact visit, the prisoner is allowed to sit together with his/her visitors and have limited physical contact with them (a brief kiss and/or hug at beginning and end of the visit, holding hands during the visit).

These visits occur in a large visiting room furnished with tables and chairs, and there are usually many other prisoners and visitors in the room. Contact visits are restricted to five visitors at a time.

Inmates in ADSEG or Intake are only allowed non-contact visits, which take place in a separate visiting room, and the inmate and his visitors are separated by a glass partition. You must have an appointment for a non-contact visit.

Some prisoners are eligible for “family visits.” These visits occur in private, apartment-like facilities on prison grounds and last approximately 30 to 40 hours. Family visits are restricted to approved visitors who are immediate family members of the prisoner. The availability of family visits is restricted to one visit every three to five months.

An eligible prisoner must put in an application for a family visit with his assigned Correctional Counselor at the prison.

General Visiting Rules

All adults must have photo identification when being processed to visit.

Visitors are required to follow all rules, regulations, and laws while on institution grounds. You and your possessions will be searched before you are allowed to visit.

You must also go through a metal detector, and the items you bring will go through an X-ray machine.

You must fill out a pass each time you visit an inmate. The pass will require the prisoner’s name and CDCR number, your relationship to the prisoner (spouse, mother, friend, etc.), your name and address, and your signature.

If you are bringing in minor children, you must list the names of the children on the pass. The completed pass is then submitted to staff, and, using a computer, staff checks the prisoner’s file to make sure you are an approved visitor, and that the prisoner is eligible to visit on that day.

Staff will mark the pass with the prisoner’s housing and notes whether the visit is contact or non-contact. The pass, along with your identification, is your “key” to get into and out of the prison. Although the pass and identification may be held by staff once you get into the visiting room, it will be returned upon leaving the visiting room.

The only items allowed into a visit without prior approval are:

• A $50 limit per adult and $20 limit per minor; only as dollar bills, dollar coins, and quarters
• A small (generally 6” by 8”) clear, plastic purse or bag
• Two keys on a ring with no other attachments
• Identification
• A comb or brush; non-metallic, no pointed end or detachable parts
• A small unopened pack of tissues or a handkerchief; no bandannas
• A pair of prescription glasses
• Ten Photographs, no larger than 8” by 10”; photos may be shown to the prisoner, but must be taken out by the visitor at the end of the visit. No Polaroids. No sexual or gang images.
• Documents up to 10 pages, no larger than 8-1/2” by 11” (standard size typing paper)

Visiting rooms have vending machines stocked with food and beverages for purchase by visitors and consumption by visitors and prisoners. You may not bring any food or beverage from the outside into the prison.

Dress Code

Prisoners are allowed to receive mail from anyone other than an incarcerated person or one released from prison within the last year. There is no limitation on the number of people who may correspond with the prisoner or the number of mail items a prisoner may receive.

The only restriction on content is that your letter may not contain anything that is a threat or potential threat to another (including discussion of a future criminal act, discussion of an escape, discussion of disrupting the security of the prison, coded messages, maps depicting the area in which the prison is located, gang-related comments or photographs, or photographs of nudity or sexual conduct).

All mail sent to prisoners is inspected to ensure that there is nothing unacceptable in the envelope and to ensure that the content does not contain anything that presents a danger or threat of danger to any person.

You may send prisoners letters (not more than 10 pages in one envelope), cards (without embellishments such as stickers or glitter), photographs (limited to 10 per envelope and not larger than 8” x 10”), drawings, children’s schoolwork, articles cut from newspapers or magazines, etc.

You can not send the following directly to a prisoner: books, magazines, newspapers, or packages. Instead, they must be sent through approved vendors.

All mail should be addressed to the prisoner with their full name, their CDCR number, and the address of the prison.

You may enclose a money order or check in an envelope sent to a prisoner. Mailroom staff will take the money order or check out of the envelope when the mail is inspected, and they will send it to trust accounts, where it will be credited to the prisoner’s account.

How to Call an Inmate

Family and friends cannot call prisoners; prisoners must call you. The prisoners use designated phones that make collect calls to a landline or cell phone. 

You are responsible for paying for the calls. Calling cards cannot be used. For complete details on how to call an inmate in California, please click here.

How to Send Money

To send money to an inmate first:

• Lookup the inmate’s CDCR number using the Inmate Locator
• Make sure the inmate is located at CSP, Sacramento by using the Facility Locator

3 Ways of Sending Money:

1. Lock Box
2. EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer)
3. Mail funds directly to the institution

​Programs For ​Inmates

• Prison Industry Authority (PIA):  Administration, laundry, and warehouse
• Vocational:  Janitorial services and building maintenance, office services, computer related technologies, electronics, and plumbing
• Academic: Adult Basic Education, High School/GED, EOP-designated Academics, Literacy Program, Bridging Education Programs, Library Services, Recreation Coach, Independent Study, English Language Development
• Medical: Psychiatric Services Unit (PSU), Enhanced Outpatient (EOP), Correctional Clinical Case Management System (CCCMS), Outpatient Housing Unit (OHU) and Correctional Treatment Center (CTC)
• Religious
• Arts in Corrections
• Self-Help Groups
• DRP Programs
• Long-Term Offender Program
• Cognitive Behavioral Treatment: Anger Management, Criminal Thinking, Family Relationships, Substance Use Disorder Treatment
• Transitions Program
• California Identification Card Program

Pictures of California State Prison - Sacramento

Careers at California State Prison - Sacramento

If you are interested in a job at California State Prison, Sacramento please visit the CalCareers website to view available positions.