Kern Valley State Prison
Prison in Delano, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) is a male-only state prison in Delano, California. Kern Valley is a Level IV Maximum Security institution, opened in June 2005 with a design capacity of 2,448 inmates. The facility is adjacent to North Kern State Prison and has an annual operating budget of US$123 million.
KVSP overhead view | |
 Interactive map of Kern Valley State Prison (KVSP) | |
| Location | Delano, California |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35.7661°N 119.3251°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Maximum |
| Capacity | 2,448 |
| Population | 3,293 (134.5% capacity) (as of March 11, 2026[1]) |
| Opened | June 2005 |
| Managed by | California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation |
| Warden | Patwin Horn |
As of March 11, 2026, Kern Valley was incarcerating people at 134.5% of its design capacity, with 3,293 occupants.[2]
Notable inmates
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| Inmate Name | Register Number | Status | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Juan Manuel Alvarez | G33008 | Serving 11 life sentences without the possibility of parole.[3] Transferred to Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. | Perpetrator of the 2005 Glendale train crash in which he intentionally left his car on the railroad track, and a passenger train proceeded to collide with it, causing a derailment which killed 11 people.[4][5][6][7][8] |
| Antron Singleton | V24953 | Serving a life sentence.[9] | American rapper who went by the name "Big Lurch" who was convicted of murdering and committing cannibalism on his roommate.[10][11] |