State to close youth prison in Chino, open it as adult prison

By Neil Nisperos

Staff Writer

CHINO -- The juvenile prison here, the largest in the state, will close and be converted to house adult prisoners.

Bernie Warner, the director of the state Department of Juvenile Justice, said Thursday that Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility will be outfitted to handle adults from the state's overcrowded system.

The 400 youth wards at Stark will be moved to other facilities in Southern California, Warner said.

Among the state's options for Stark are to turn it into a medical facility or a reception center like Reception Center West at California Institution for Men, which was destroyed by inmates on Aug. 8, rendering some of the decades-old wooden dorms there uninhabitable.

The riot injured almost 200, some seriously, and displaced nearly 1,300 inmates, the majority of which are still temporarily housed on the Stark facility.

"There are very significant inmate population issues, with adult corrections, and fortunately, I guess this facility would be available to meet some of those needs," Warner said.

The closure of Stark and its impending transformation into an adult prison has concerned Chino Valley leaders who fear a greater increase in the local inmate population and an expansion of prison operations.

The cities of Chino and Chino Hills have had a rocky recent relationship with the Corrections Department, having cited the strains on local public safety and fears caused by a number of prison riots throughout the years.

Corrections officials said Stark can house 1,200 inmates, but city officials are skeptical of that number.

"My fear is that they utilize those old pre-existing buildings there, which are unacceptable," said Chino Mayor Dennis Yates.

"For them to utilize those old buildings there is ludicrous. Whatever the capacity, you can rest assured they can double it. There are (neighborhoods) north of Stark which leaves me a little uneasy."

Chino Hills Mayor Peter Rogers echoed Yates' objections.

"The population was 5,800 to 5,900 at CIM prior to the riot. Now it's down probably 700 or 800 prisoners from its high a year ago," Rogers said.

"My question is, are they going to repopulate CIM back to 5,900 and then at the Stark facility, add a minimum of 1,200 beds? And Mayor Yates is right, that's (adult population at Stark) probably going to be closer to 1,800 or 2,000."

State Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said it would cost taxpayers up to $6 million to rebuild Reception Center West, which had housed nearly 1,300 inmates, at CIM. Corrections did not rule out the possibility the reception center would be rebuilt.

The Stark facility opened in 1959.

neil.nisperos@inlandnewspapers.com

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