By Marc Benjamin
The Fresno Bee
COALINGA, Calif. — Coalinga city officials are scrambling to find inmates to fill a 570-bed jail that was forced to close last week after the state Department of Corrections ended its longtime contract.
The city, desperate to save city jobs and bring in revenue, is sending proposals to Southern California counties and also Fresno County.
Most of the 90 employees have been laid off from Claremont Custody Facility, Coalinga city manager Bill Skinner said Monday. He said a handful of the jail’s top officials remain to prepare for a state audit later this month.
In response to a federal order to reduce overcrowding and also to trim state prison system costs, the state is shifting tens of thousands of minimum-security inmates to counties.
Full Story: Coalinga seeks inmates for empty jail