United States · California · Imperial
Centinela State Prison (Cen)
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.
For families
How to send mail, money, and visit Centinela State Prison (Cen)
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
Centinela State Prison (Cen) is a state prison located in Imperial County, California. Rated capacity: 2,308. Reported population: 3,473. Security level: Maximum. Data sourced from the HIFLD Prison Boundaries open dataset.
Capacity
2,308
Current population
3,473
Occupancy
150%
Year opened
—
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 2 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
—
Region
California
Security level
Maximum
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
No conditions summary available yet.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
No mailing information available.
Practical info
Contact the operator's website for inmate-specific procedures.
Known issues
No major issues documented in our database.
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 22/30
- Oversight reports
- 0/30
- Structural flags
- 0/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
What the score is responding to:
- · Severely overcrowded at 150% of capacity
This facility scores 22. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 20 points above national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Woodman State JailGatesvilleMaximumState prison720% occupancy
- Kern Valley State Prison (Kvsp)DelanoMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Diagnostic And Evaluation CenterLincolnMaximumState prison178% occupancy
- High Desert State Prison (Hdsp)SusanvilleMaximumState prison152% occupancy
- Calipatria State Prison (Cal)CalipatriaMaximumState prison161% occupancy
- San Quentin Rehabilitation CenterSan QuentinMaximumState prison107% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in United States
7436 peersHigher risk than 96% of peer facilities in United States.
Data completeness
74%How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.
Sources
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries
- HIFLD dataset query
- HIFLD Prison Boundaries — US Department of Homeland Security â HIFLD Open Data
- See /data-sources for our overall methodology.
Cite this page
Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.
World Prisons. (2026). Centinela State Prison (Cen). Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centinela-state-prison-cen
"Centinela State Prison (Cen)." World Prisons. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centinela-state-prison-cen.
@misc{worldprisons-centinela-state-prison-cen,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {Centinela State Prison (Cen)},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/centinela-state-prison-cen},
urldate = {2026-10-20}
}