Kern Valley State Prison

Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) is state prison for male inmates that is located in Delano, California. It is a Level IV institution that houses 4,600 inmates in four semi-autonomous facilities and two stand-alone Administrative Segregation Units all surrounded by a Lethal Electrified Perimeter Fence. There is also a Level I Minimum Support Facility (MSF) that houses 400 inmates in dorms.

Kern Valley State Prison opened in June 2005 and is adjacent to the North Kern State Prison. It was California's 33rd prison and the last of 20 new prisons to be built over a period of two decades during California's massive prison expansion.

Also known as Delano II, Kern Valley State Prison was designed and built to house a total of 5000 inmates and is a Level I, Level IV prison. KVSP contains a large number of SHU, PHU and Ad-Seg Housing Units and was designed to house the state’s most problematic inmates.

KVSP was designed to be the first fully-programmed Level IV institution in California with a variety of academic and vocational education programs. The goal is to increase an offender’s chances of reentering society successfully.

Prison Insights

Visiting Hours and Rules

Visiting hours at Kern Valley State Prison are on Saturdays, Sundays, and four holidays: New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. The visiting hours are generally between 8:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

KSVP has an 800 Visitors’ Information number (800-374-8474) that you can call for up-to-date information on lockdowns, medical quarantines, or other circumstances affecting visiting.

We recommend that you read the CDCR’s detailed Visitation Guidebook before visiting an inmate because there is a ton of information in those 28 pages that will answer any questions you might have.

You can schedule a visit at Kern Valley State Prison in advance by using the VPASS system. We highly recommend that you take advantage of this because not only will it guarantee you a spot in the visiting room, but it will also reduce your wait time.

Getting Approved for a Visit

Before visiting an inmate at Kern Valley you must get on the approved visiting list. To make that happens, you must ask the prisoner you want to visit to mail you a signed visitor questionnaire.

• Mail the completed questionnaire to:

Kern Valley State Prison
Visiting Sergeant
PO Box 6000
Delano, CA 93216-6000

The prison will notify the inmate when you are approved, and it is their job to notify you. When you are approved you will be listed in the CDCR computer as being an approved visitor for that specific prisoner.

If you are denied, the prison will send you a letter explaining the reason for disapproval.

Contact, Non-Contact, and Family Visits

Kern Valley inmates who are in general population are allowed contact visits. At a contact visit, the prisoner can sit with you in a large visiting room, and they may have limited physical contact with you.

Contact visits are restricted to five visitors at a time.

Inmates in intake and ADSEG (Administrative Segregation) are only allowed non-contact visits, which take place in a separate visiting room, and the inmates and 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. Prisoners on Death Row, with life sentences, with convictions for sex offenses, or under disciplinary restrictions are not eligible for family visits.

Family visits are restricted to approved visitors who are immediate family members (parents, children, siblings, legal spouses, or registered domestic partners) of the prisoner. Family visits are further restricted by availability; usually one visit every three to five months.

General Visiting Rules

When you arrive at Kern Valley State Prison for a visit, be sure to bring a current photo ID. Also, be prepared to be searched and to go through a metal detector. The items you bring will go through an X-ray machine.

When you arrive for a contact visit, you are allowed to bring in the following items:

• Up to $50 per adult (only as dollar bills, dollar coins, and quarters)
• A small, 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
• Ten pages of documents

Visiting rooms have vending machines stocked with food and beverages that you can purchase for yourself and the inmate during a contact visit. You may not bring any food or beverage from the outside into the prison.

Make sure to dress modestly when visiting an inmate, and do not wear any clothing that resembles an inmate’s clothing.

Be sure to include the inmate’s name and CDCR number on all correspondence. All mail going into Kern Valley State Prison is inspected by prison staff.

You are allowed to send:

• 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 from the internet, newspapers, or magazines

You can’t send books directly to an inmate. Instead, they must be sent through approved vendors like Amazon. To send magazines and newspapers, you must set up a subscription for the inmate so they can be mailed directly from the publisher.

To send packages to an inmate at KVSP, you must use the California Inmate Quarterly Package system. Quarterly Packages are packages that consist primarily of clothing, tennis shoes, food, and health and beauty items.

To get more information on the Package system, click on one of these approved vendors:

https://www.accesscatalog.com/shop/index.html?ProgramID=3
https://www.californiainmatepackage.com/Home.aspx

How to Call an Inmate

You can’t call an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison, but they do have access to phones and can call you collect during approved hours. For complete details on how to call an inmate in California, please click here.

How to Send Money

There are three ways to send money to an inmate at KVSP: using the lockbox, Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) online, or mailing a check or money order directly to the inmate. To get complete details about sending money to an inmate at Kern Valley State Prison, click here.

​Programs For ​Inmates

• Vocational: Auto Mechanics, Office Services and Related Technologies, Small Engine Repair, and Welding.
• Assessments: General Educational Development (GED) and Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE).
• Certifications:  Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS): Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Outdoor Power Equipment Specialist Association (OPESA), and National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER).
• Academic: Adult Basic Education (ABE) I, II, III, and GED.
• Physical Education: Indoor and outdoor tournaments and special events solely for those inmate participants over 55 years of age.
• Television Specialist:  Monitors the closed-circuit television system approved for inmate entertainment, information, and education.

Pictures of Kern Valley State Prison

Careers at Kern Valley State Prison

If you are interested in a career at Kern Valley State Prison, you can find available positions on the CalCareers website.