CDCR - Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP)

Pleasant Valley State Prison (PVSP) is a CDCR men's institution at 24863 West Jayne Avenue in Coalinga, Fresno County, in California's San Joaquin Valley. Opened in 1994, PVSP holds men at all custody levels — from Level I minimum-support to higher-security housing — and has a documented history intertwined with Valley Fever, the soil-borne fungal disease (coccidioidomycosis) that is endemic to the western San Joaquin Valley. Federal court orders and CDCR classification policies have shaped PVSP's population for the past decade because medically susceptible incarcerated people were required to be transferred away from the facility to protect against severe Valley Fever infection. Under Warden Jerry Ourique, appointed in May 2026 after serving as Acting Warden since March 2025, and Health Care CEO Katie Minor (appointed April 2025), PVSP continues to operate under the shadow of that public-health history. This guide covers weekend visitation through the CDCR VSA, mail to PO Box 8500, Connect Network and JPay deposits, free ViaPath calls, and the Valley Fever context that families need to know.

About Pleasant Valley State Prison and the Valley Fever context

PVSP was activated in 1994 to hold roughly 3,000 men on a large campus in the Coalinga area of the San Joaquin Valley. In the years after opening, PVSP became one of the CDCR facilities most affected by Valley Fever, a fungal infection caused by Coccidioides immitis spores that live in the soil of the arid western San Joaquin Valley. Between roughly 2005 and 2013, PVSP and the neighboring Avenal State Prison saw hundreds of documented Valley Fever cases in incarcerated people, some of them fatal, disproportionately affecting Black inmates and those with pre-existing medical vulnerabilities. Federal court orders under Plata v. Newsom ultimately required CDCR to move medically susceptible incarcerated people out of the two prisons and to update classification screening to prevent susceptible people from being transferred in.

Today PVSP continues to operate under those medical-exclusion policies, and the population and housing designations reflect the effort to reduce Valley Fever risk in the incarcerated population. For families, this context matters: if your loved one has HIV, diabetes, immunosuppression, or is a Black man — all elevated risk factors for severe coccidioidomycosis — his placement at PVSP may itself be a medical concern to discuss with his classification counselor and, if needed, the Health Care CEO's office. If he develops respiratory symptoms consistent with Valley Fever (persistent cough, fatigue, fever, chest pain), that should be documented, reported to medical, and followed up in writing.

Every incarcerated person at PVSP has a CDCR number that follows him across California's whole system; that number is required on every letter, deposit, and visit form. Confirm the current institution through CDCR's CIRIS or by searching on AllRecentArrests.us before mailing or traveling. Our guide on how to find someone in jail or prison covers the search process.

Visitation at PVSP through the CDCR VSA

Visits at PVSP are held on Saturdays, Sundays, and CDCR-observed holidays. Every visit must be scheduled in advance through the CDCR Visitor Scheduling Application (VSA) at cdcr.gtlvisitme.com/app — walk-in visits are turned away. Depending on the incarcerated person's custody status, visits may be contact (in a shared visiting room) or non-contact (through a partition). Coalinga is roughly 90 minutes from Fresno and about three hours from the San Francisco Bay Area or Sacramento, making PVSP moderately accessible to Northern and Central California families.

Before scheduling, you must be approved on the visitor list. The process starts with CDCR Form 106 (Visitor Questionnaire) that the incarcerated person requests, mails to you, and you complete and return for a background check. Once approved, register with the VSA using the CDCR number and book a slot several days ahead. Bring a valid government-issued photo ID, dress within CDCR's visiting rules, and expect a full search on arrival. Because PVSP is in the Valley Fever endemic area, visitors should be aware that spores are ubiquitous in the local soil; most visitors are at low individual risk from a single visit, but staying inside vehicles when possible and avoiding kicking up dust are sensible precautions particularly for immunocompromised visitors.

How to send money to a PVSP inmate

PVSP inmates fund their trust and canteen accounts through the CDCR-wide channels: Access Corrections' Connect Network and JPay for electronic deposits, plus a mailed-check option through JPay's Los Angeles lockbox. Connect Network is the CDCR-contracted trust deposit route (accesscorrections.com or by phone) and typically posts fastest. Mailed checks and money orders should be made payable to JPay and sent with a completed JPay deposit slip to JPay, 2202 South Figueroa St, Box #3001, Los Angeles, CA 90007. California's 50-percent restitution garnishment applies to non-exempt deposits. Deposits stay with the person across transfers. Our how to send money to an inmate and JPay guide cover the mechanics.

Mail to a PVSP inmate

Personal mail for PVSP inmates goes to Inmate Name and CDCR Number, PO Box 8500, Coalinga, CA 93210. Include your full return address (letters without one are frequently rejected) and write the housing assignment on the envelope when you have it. Legal mail from an attorney or court, clearly marked as legal correspondence, is opened only in the inmate's presence and should be sent separately from personal letters. Follow California's prohibited-items rules: no cash, personal checks, stamps, stickers, glitter, glue, tape, staples, paperclips, Polaroids, hardcover books, musical or embellished cards, or anything with electronics. Books and publications generally must come directly from the publisher or an approved online retailer. Our how to send mail to an inmate covers the format and common rejection triggers.

Phone calls: free through ViaPath since January 2023

Phone service at PVSP, like every CDCR institution, has been free of charge to the incarcerated caller since January 1, 2023 under California's Keep Families Connected Act (SB 1008). Calls run through ViaPath/GTL's ConnectNetwork platform. Register your phone number at connectnetwork.com on the inmate's approved calling list. Packages are allowed only through CDCR-approved vendors. Our guide to calling an inmate, care package guide, and commissary explainer cover the details.

Medical care, emergencies, and Plata monitoring

Because PVSP was central to the Valley Fever litigation and remains subject to CDCR medical-exclusion policies, medical-care monitoring at the facility is ongoing. Under Plata v. Newsom, California's prison medical care is under federal Receivership, with a court-appointed Receiver overseeing operations. If you are worried about your loved one's medical care at PVSP — particularly for respiratory symptoms, chronic disease management, or any suspected Valley Fever presentation — contact the facility's Health Care CEO through the main line at (559) 935-4900 and keep a written record. External escalation paths include the Prison Law Office (which serves as class counsel in Plata) and the CDCR Office of the Ombudsman.

For urgent family emergencies such as a death, serious illness, or birth, call PVSP at (559) 935-4900 and ask to be connected to the chaplain's office to relay the message. Be cautious about paying third-party sites — CDCR's CIRIS search and the department's named providers are the authoritative channels. Paying an unfamiliar site to "locate" someone or forward a deposit is a common way families lose money.

Records and your first steps at PVSP

Keeping the CDCR number, current facility yard, any documented medical vulnerabilities (particularly Valley Fever risk factors), VSA login, Connect Network/JPay receipts, and any Board of Parole Hearings dates organized in one place carries families through PVSP with the least added friction. If someone you love has just been transferred to Pleasant Valley, focus first on the essentials: write down their CDCR number and current facility yard, request CDCR Form 106 for visitor approval and register at cdcr.gtlvisitme.com/app once approved, set up Connect Network or JPay for deposits (knowing California withholds 50 percent for restitution), and mail to PO Box 8500, Coalinga, CA 93210 with legal mail clearly marked. Register your phone number at connectnetwork.com for free CDCR calls. If your loved one has known medical vulnerabilities, raise Valley Fever concerns in writing with the Health Care CEO's office and ask whether medical-transfer criteria apply. As a parole date approaches, our guides on life after prison, finding work after prison, and applying for SNAP, Medicaid, and TANF after release cover what comes next.

Inside Pleasant Valley State Prison: how the facility is laid out

Pleasant Valley State Prison holds people at all custody levels.

The institution describes its aim as excellence in state service and public safety while providing modern long-term housing and professional rehabilitative services.

Layout matters more than families expect. Which yard or unit someone is assigned to drives their custody level, their program eligibility, and often their visiting schedule — so when you call, having the housing assignment to hand will get you a useful answer faster than the name alone.

How crowded Pleasant Valley State Prison is right now

Pleasant Valley State Prison was designed to hold 2,308 people. As of July 22, 2026 the agency reported a population of 3,169, which is 137.3% of that design capacity.

A prison operating at this level is not simply full — it is well past the number it was built for, and that shows up in the things families actually feel. Expect converted dayrooms and gymnasiums used as housing, long waits for medical and dental appointments, program and education waitlists, and visiting slots that fill early. It also drives transfers: when one institution is over capacity, people get moved to wherever there is a bed, sometimes hundreds of miles away.

For scale, the same report puts the state's institutions as a whole at 86,006 people against a design capacity of 71,074, or 121.0% — so this facility sits above the system-wide figure rather than being an outlier.

This figure moves week to week. Treat it as the scale of the place rather than a live count, and confirm anything that affects a visit with the institution directly.

Who runs Pleasant Valley State Prison

The senior official on site is Jerry Ourique, appointed in May 2026 after serving as acting Warden from March 2025. Naming the warden is not just trivia: correspondence about a serious unresolved problem should be addressed to that post rather than to the institution generally, because a letter to a named office creates a record that a call to a switchboard does not.

The institution's main line is (559) 935-4900. Use it for anything urgent — a medical emergency, a safety concern, confirming whether visiting is running — and ask for the watch commander or the shift supervisor rather than leaving a message with whoever answers.

Education, training, and work at Pleasant Valley State Prison

Academic programming at Pleasant Valley State Prison includes Adult Basic Education I, II and III, GED and the high school diploma program, the Voluntary Education Program, college through Coastline Community College and face-to-face classes with West Hills College. Enrolment is rarely immediate — most institutions run waitlists, and assignment depends on custody level, sentence length, and prior testing. If your family member wants a place, the request has to come from them through their assigned counsellor; a call from outside will not add someone to a list.

Vocational and career technical training on site includes Electrical Works, Office Services, Electronics Technology, Small Engine Repair, Carpentry, Building Maintenance, Auto Body and Paint, Auto Mechanics, Welding and Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. These carry more weight than general programming, because completion is documented and can matter at a parole or release review as evidence of work done inside.

The facility also operates prison industry work assignments: health care facility maintenance and building maintenance. These are paid positions, at correctional pay rates rather than market wages, and the earnings usually route into a trust account your family member can spend at the commissary. A work assignment is also the most common reason someone becomes hard to reach during the day.

Visiting Pleasant Valley State Prison: the current schedule

Pleasant Valley State Prison receives visitors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with in-person visits offered for a minimum of two hours, though the exact session length varies by institution and availability.

Two things about that schedule are worth knowing before you drive. Published hours are when the visiting room is open, not when you can arrive — processing closes well before the room does, and arriving inside the last hour often means being turned away. And a published schedule is suspended more often than it is changed: lockdowns, staffing shortages, and medical isolation all cancel visiting at short notice, usually without the website being updated.

Visiting is booked through the department's Visitation Scheduling Application. The booking window opens eight days before the visit and closes five days before it, and the daily request period opens at 6:00 a.m. for northern institutions, 6:30 a.m. for central, and 7:00 a.m. for southern, running to 11:59 p.m. Only people already approved as visitors can book, so the approval application has to be granted before any date can be reserved. Visits can be cancelled at any time for health and safety reasons, and can be ended early if staff see a visitor or a resident showing symptoms of a contagious illness.

Call the institution the morning you travel and ask specifically whether visiting is running on your family member's yard or unit — not whether the prison is open. Those are different questions, and the second one gets a misleadingly reassuring answer.

Advocacy and monitoring resources for PVSP families

Because PVSP has been at the center of California's Valley Fever litigation and remains under Plata Receivership medical oversight, several external resources are specifically relevant to families with concerns about care at the facility. The Prison Law Office in Berkeley has served as class counsel in both Plata (medical) and Coleman (mental health) and receives correspondence about specific care concerns from incarcerated people and their families. The California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS), the entity that operates prison medical care under the Receiver, publishes facility-level performance reports that can help contextualize a specific concern. And the CDCR Office of the Ombudsman handles constituent concerns and provides an escalation path when facility-level responses are inadequate.

Confirming Valley Fever risk-factor status

If you have reason to believe your loved one has a documented risk factor for severe Valley Fever — HIV, diabetes, pregnancy, cancer treatment, organ transplant, or Black racial identity (which carries elevated risk of severe cocci per CDC and CDCR classification standards) — his placement at PVSP raises a specific medical concern. Under CDCR's post-litigation exclusion policies, susceptible people should not be housed at PVSP or Avenal. If your loved one is at PVSP despite qualifying for exclusion, the appropriate escalation is a written request to the Health Care CEO's office at PVSP with copies to the CCHCS regional office and, if unresolved, to Prison Law Office as class counsel in Plata.