The California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation announced Tuesday that Ron Davis has been appointed the acting warden of Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla.

The CDCR says prior to this assignment, Davis worked as the chief deputy warden at Avenal State Prison in Kings County. He began his career as a correctional officer in Salinas in 1994...

Inmates at Valley State Prison for Women (VSPW) have flooded the office of Madera County District 2 Supervisor David Rogers with letters expressing their concerns and fears over the state's plan to convert the prison to a men's facility.

"These concerns," Rogers said, "range from losing valuable rehabilitative programs and the potential of being housed near women who have threatened their safety."

Recent numbers show about 3,000 women are housed in VSPW, Rogers said, which is 150 percent of design capacity. At Central California Women's Facility (CCWF), the second women's prison located in Chowchilla, there are about 3,400 inmates, 180 percent of design capacity, Rogers said. The only other women's facility, California Institute for Women (CIW), houses almost 2,000 inmates and was designed for 1,200...

Chowchilla's Valley State Prison for Women will be converted to a men's prison in July 2013, even though local officials have voiced strong opposition to the change.

The change is being made because of fewer female inmates and overcrowding in men's prisons, said Dana Toyama, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The prison will hold low- to medium-security adult male inmates, Toyama said Friday...

The message from representatives with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) was loud and clear — convert it or close it.

The opposition from city and county officials was just as clear.

Representatives from CDCR met with strong opposition at the prospect of converting one of the state's two women's prisons in Chowchilla into a men's facility...

One of the two prison facilities in Chowchilla could change from a women's prison to a men's facility.

Some folks in Madera County are worried about possible changes to a Chowchilla women's prison.

One of the two women's prisons could be turned into a men's prison as part of a statewide prison realignment...

Valley State Prison for Women could soon become a state prison for about 2,000 men.  A prison realignment, effective in two months, will decrease the number of female prisoners and close one of the state's three facilities.  Monday, representatives from California Department of Corrections met with Madera County and Chowchilla City leaders for the first time.

“The bottom line is we need factual data to look at to see what the impact of exchanging a men's facility for a women's facility will be,” said Jay Varney, Chowchilla Police Chief, who’s one of many opposed to the change.  Their research shows families of male prisoners move into the communities where they're serving time.  Varney is concerned the extra people could stretch the department too thin...

An all-faith outdoor sanctuary and meditation garden is now available for inmates at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla.

The Chapel of Grace sanctuary and surrounding gardens will be dedicated at a special ceremony at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the prison yard. An indoor chapel previously used is not large enough to accommodate inmates.

The $500,000 Chapel of Grace project was funded through private donations. Don Eskes, Chapel of Grace board chairman, believes the project is the first joint effort of a private entity partnering with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation...