California is looking at closing more prisons. Here are some that might be on the list Sacramento Bee 5 hrs ago Andrew Sheeler, The Sacramento Bee Apr. 15—The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has plans to shut down two prisons, but more closures could soon be on the way because of the state's rapidly shrinking inmate population. According to the Legislative Analyst's Office, the state could close a total of five prisons by 2025, which in turn could save an estimated $1.5 billion in annual spending. The corrections department, which has a budget of $16 billion, oversees 34 prisons and more than 50,000 employees. New criminal sentencing laws over the last decade gradually reduced the state's prison population from about 144,000 inmates in 2011 to about 120,000 last year. The number of inmates in state custody plummeted in the coronavirus pandemic, dropping to about 95,000 this month.