United States · California · San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo County Jail
Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date.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 San Luis Obispo County Jail
Step-by-step guidance using the United States system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.
San Luis Obispo County Jail is a county jail located in San Luis Obispo County, California. Rated capacity: 518. Reported population: 522. Data sourced from the HIFLD Prison Boundaries open dataset.
Capacity
518
Current population
522
Occupancy
101%
Year opened
—
Operational
Figures from official sources · verified 2 Jun 2026 · methodology
Facility profile
Population held
Mixed/unknown
Opened
—
Region
California
Security level
—
Death-row facility
No
Conditions
conditions of confinement at the San Luis U.S.C. § 12132. We thank Jail leadership, administrators, and staff for accommodating our investigation and providing access to the Jail’s facilities, staff, documents, data, and prisoners. believe that conditions at the San Luis Obispo County Jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth of prolonged restrictive housing under conditions that violate the constitutional rights of alleged conditions we have identified if Jail officials have not satisfactorily addressed them.
Visiting
No visiting information available.
Mailing
We are obligated to advise you that 49 days after issuance of this letter and the enclosed letter and the Report of Investigation are public documents. They will be posted on the Civil If you have any questions regarding this correspondence, please call Steven H.
Practical info
prisoners; (2) failure to provide constitutionally adequate mental health care to prisoners; (3) use approach and look forward to working with the County to address the violations of law we have
Known issues
[doj-cripa 2021-01-01 — San Luis Obispo Jail (California)] Obispo County Jail (the Jail), conducted under the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), 42 U.S.C. § 1997, and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 believe that conditions at the San Luis Obispo County Jail violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Specifically, we have reasonable cause to believe that the Jail violates the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners by its: (1) failure to provide constitutionally adequate medical care to prisoners; (2) failure to provide constitutionally adequate mental health care to prisoners; (3) use of prolonged restrictive housing under conditions that violate the constitutional rights of prisoners with serious mental illness; (4) failure to prevent, detect, or correct use of excessive force that violates the constitutional rights of prisoners; and (5) denial of equal access to prisoners with disabilities in violation of the ADA. Report of Investigation, the Attorney General may initiate a lawsuit under CRIPA to correct the approach and look forward to working with the County to address the violations of law we have Ruckert, Chief, Civil Rights Section, Civil Division, at the U.S.
Documented human-rights cases
- San Luis Obispo Jail (California)2021-01-01 · Eighth Amendment / Fourteenth Amendment (US Constitution) â CRIPA · allegation
San Luis Obispo Jail (Californ
Contact & address
Conditions Risk Score
Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated
- Overcrowding
- 5/30
- Oversight reports
- 0/30
- Structural flags
- 5/15
- Death signals
- 0/15
- Conditions text
- 0/10
What the score is responding to:
- · Operating at 101% of design capacity
- · Substantial documented known-issues record
This facility scores 10. The national average across 7,437 scored United States facilities is 2 — 8 points above national average.
Related facilities
Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.
- Southwest Virginia Regional Jail - TazewellTazewellMaximumCounty jail330% occupancy
- Stevens County Jail / CourthouseColvilleCounty jail259% occupancy
- Gallia County JailGallipolisCounty jail336% occupancy
- Noble County JailCaldwellCounty jail542% occupancy
- Stark County JailToulonCounty jail3446% occupancy
- Franklin County Detention FacilitySt. AlbansMaximumCounty jail660% occupancy
Compared to other facilities in United States
7436 peersHigher risk than 75% of peer facilities in United States.
Data completeness
84%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). San Luis Obispo County Jail. Retrieved October 23, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/san-luis-obispo-county-jail
"San Luis Obispo County Jail." World Prisons. Accessed October 23, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/san-luis-obispo-county-jail.
@misc{worldprisons-san-luis-obispo-county-jail,
author = {{World Prisons}},
title = {San Luis Obispo County Jail},
year = {2026},
url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/san-luis-obispo-county-jail},
urldate = {2026-10-23}
}