Wasco State Prison

One of CDCR's two Kern County reception centers, where many men entering state custody are first processed before transfer to a long-term prison.

Overview

Wasco State Prison-Reception Center is, as its full name says, primarily a reception center: men entering CDCR custody are received here, and staff compile records and medical and psychological information to set a classification score and decide which prison the person will actually serve time in. CDCR describes its reception-center processing as usually taking about 90 days. A 1,000-bed medium-custody general population facility and a minimum-custody support unit operate alongside the reception mission.

For most families, Wasco is a waypoint: the person arrives from county jail, processes through, and transfers. The Transfers guide covers what that next move looks like.

What Makes Wasco State Prison Different

• It is a named reception center — intake is the institution’s primary mission, and the visiting rules below reflect it.
• Reception-center visitation has been appointment-only since July 2023; walk-ins are processed only for the A and M general-population yards, in narrow windows.
• CDCR’s visiting page states Wasco no longer offers video visiting.
• It is one of two reception centers in the same corner of Kern County — North Kern State Prison in Delano is about 20 minutes away — so confirming the institution in CIRIS before traveling matters.
• Unusually for a California prison town, Wasco has its own Amtrak station on the Gold Runner corridor (the service formerly named the San Joaquins).

Visiting Hours and Procedures

CDCR posts Wasco’s hours, walk-in windows, and family-visit schedule on the facility’s visiting status page.

Family (overnight) visits are scheduled Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with arrival between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. for processing — but California regulation excludes anyone in the reception process from family visits, so these apply to the general-population yards.

Statewide rules, dress code, and the approval process are covered in Visiting in California.

Getting There and Parking

Wasco sits at the junction of CA-43 and CA-46, northwest of Bakersfield in the southern Central Valley.

CDCR does not publish Wasco-specific parking details online. CDCR directs visitors to check Caltrans QuickMap for road conditions before traveling.

Wasco has an Amtrak station in town (Gold Runner service, formerly the San Joaquins), and Kern Transit’s Route 110 bus connects Bakersfield, Shafter, Wasco, McFarland, and Delano — though no stop at the prison itself is published, so the final leg is by car or the Friends Outside van, which provides transportation between the institution and local public transportation terminals.

Nearby Services

Lodging in Wasco itself is sparse — hotel sites list one chain property in town, the Best Western Plus Wasco Inn & Suites on Highway 46 — and the real cluster of hotels, food, and services is in Bakersfield, about 25 miles southeast. There are also chain hotels in Delano, about 20 minutes north.

Wasco has no hospital emergency room; the nearest is Adventist Health Delano on Garces Highway in Delano, which operates a 24-hour emergency room, with full-service hospitals in Bakersfield.

Friends Outside operates a visitor center at Wasco State Prison — phone (661) 758-8332 — with visiting-day hours Friday through Sunday. Friends Outside visitor centers offer childcare, clothing loans, van transportation, and local information.

Learn More

For detailed information about visiting and communicating with someone at a California state prison:

• Transfers — what happens after reception and during transfers
• Visiting in California — CDCR approval process, dress code, scheduling
• Mail & Packages — What you can send and what gets rejected
• Phone & Video Calls — Call costs, tablets, and video visits
• Sending Money — How to add funds to a CDCR trust account
• Medical & Mental Health — Healthcare in CDCR facilities