Centinela State Prison administrators are investigating the death of inmate Steven Fimbres.

Fimbres, 36, came to the California Department of Corrections in 2002 and was serving a 19-year sentence from Kern County for first-degree burglary.

At 2:20 p.m. Monday, Fimbres was attacked by two inmates while in the maximum security yard. Custody staff stopped the attack, but Fimbres sustained several puncture wounds and was pronounced dead at 3 p.m. at Centinela's emergency room. There were no injuries to staff...

California officials first learned that the water at Kern Valley State Prison was contaminated with arsenic – twice the level considered safe by the World Health Organization – soon after the facility opened in 2005. Now one of the top prison officials in the state tells Change.org the problem will be fixed.

The problem with that, though? We've heard it before.

In December 2008, the prison's warden at the time, Anthony Hedgpeth, issued a memo pledging action to fix the contaminated water problem. “We anticipate resolving the problem by June 2009,” the memo stated, noting that exposure to arsenic can cause skin damage and circulatory system problems, as well as increase the risk one will develop cancer...

The signs across from Kern Valley State Prison in Delano inform motorists they're driving by "Arnold's Labor Camp #1" and "State Worker Refugee Camp #1." If that doesn't grab a driver's attention, the variously colored tents set up a couple of hundred feet from the roadway should.

As of Tuesday, about 50 correctional officers had set up at the site, and 50 to 100 more are expected by the end of the week, said Sgt. Ian Pickett, corrections and community advocate with the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. The purpose of the camp is to demonstrate the worst-case scenario correctional officers face if they have to deal with more paycuts...

The head of California's prison system said Wednesday that he will soon ask state legislators to approve expanding three prisons to hold an additional 2,800 inmates, adding to what already is the nation's largest state prison system.

The construction projects would be the first to draw money from a nearly $8 billion bond measure approved by lawmakers two years ago. The money has been stalled ever since by drafting problems that were corrected in the budget legislation that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law in February.

Corrections Secretary Matthew Cate said he plans to seek approval within weeks to build cellblocks for about 900 inmates each at high-security Kern Valley and medium-security North Kern state prisons, both near Delano…

Adding 900 beds to each of two Delano-area state prisons would take about two years and rely on the sale of state bonds, officials said Thursday.

They also would generate an estimated 850 jobs and around $86 million in annual payroll to Kern County.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has launched an effort to expand four state prisons at a cost of $810 million, including at North Kern and Kern Valley state prisons…

A riot at a California state prison has left one inmate dead and at least 16 others injured.

Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said Thursday that one inmate died of stab wounds inflicted by other prisoners.

Four inmates had been shot by guards and two others suffered stab wounds. They are expected to survive. Several inmates were bruised by blunt projectiles fired by prison guards…

Beside a field of rolling tumbleweed in this remote Central Valley town, the state opened its newest prison in 2005 with a modern design, cutting-edge security features and a serious environmental problem.

The drinking water pumped from two wells at Kern Valley State Prison contained arsenic, a known cause of cancer, in amounts far higher than a federal safety standard soon to take effect.

Yet today, nearly three years after missing the government's deadline to reduce the arsenic levels, the state has no concrete plans or funding to do so. Officials spent $629,000 to design a filtration system and then decided not to build it, while neglecting to inform staff and inmates that they were consuming contaminated water…

The state correctional officers' union is the most recent financial contributor to a countywide youth summit in November.

The Kern Valley State Prison Chapter of the California Corrections Peace Officers Association gave $5,000 to the committee organizing the Step Up Youth Summit Nov. 20 at the Visalia Convention Center. A check was presented by Tulare County residents Anthony D. Lane and Oak Smith, correctional counselors, and Marques Jones, a correctional officer…

He's a brain-damaged murderer, in a persistent vegetative state, and since December it's cost the state more than $831,000 – about half in officer overtime – to guard and care for him.

Now, California corrections officials are looking into a possible compassionate release for Jackson Phaysaleum, 24, who is four years into a sentence of 46-to-life.

Convicted of killing two men in a dispute over Stockton drug turf, Phaysaleum was rendered all but lifeless after a cellmate attacked him at Kern Valley State Prison.

One advocate of compassionate releases for dying or disabled inmates said Phaysaleum's continued imprisonment is needless and almost vindictive…

The state prison system is facing a bed shortage, and several Kern facilities may expand to help relieve overcrowded conditions. Statewide, too many inmates are sleeping in gymnasiums and day rooms rather than dormitory-style or cell accommodations. North Kern State Prison and Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, Wasco State Prison and California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi will participate in the state infill housing program. Infill beds are designed to alleviate crowded conditions at existing prison sites, said Brian Parriott, a spokesman for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. New facilities would need to be built to accommodate infill beds…