Facility record · California
Correctional Training Facility
CTF · Soledad · Monterey County
- SecurityLevels I–II
- Population4,352
- Occupancy155%
Jail411 holds no custody records. A listing here does not mean anyone is held at this address.
Correctional Training Facility (CTF) is a state prison in Soledad, Monterey County, California. By capacity it is the 8th-largest of the 30 state prison records listed for California with a published capacity. It is one of 6 correctional facilities in Monterey County, and California operates 30 state prisons in total.
Contact & details
CDCR Infrastructure Master Plan, Appendix 1 (May 2026), period ending 30 April 2026
Finding someone first
Nothing below works without two things: confirmation that the person is at Correctional Training Facility, and their CDCR number. Book a visit without them and you will be turned away; post a letter without the number and the mailroom cannot route it.
CDCR's public search covers people in CDCR custody. A disclaimer must be accepted before searching, and CDCR states the tool is informational rather than an official record. County jail populations are held separately.
CIRIS — California Incarcerated Records and Information Search ↗
Visiting Correctional Training Facility
This is what the institution publishes, in the order you will meet it: when visits run, how to get approved, how to book, when to arrive, and what you may carry in.
When visits run
Visiting open · 25 August 2026Get approved
You must be approved before booking. The incarcerated person first sends you a signed CDCR Form 106 Visiting Questionnaire. Complete that exact copy, then mail it directly to CTF’s Visiting office.
Send it to: Mail the completed questionnaire to Correctional Training Facility, Attention: Visiting, P.O. Box 686, Soledad, CA 93960-0686.
What not to do: Do not mail the completed questionnaire back to the incarcerated person. Send it directly to CTF’s Visiting office at the staff-mail address above.
Book through the scheduling application
Use VSA for CTF contact visits. The request period begins eight days before the visiting day and closes five days before it. CTF says emailed appointment requests will not be reviewed.
Open the Visitation Scheduling Application ↗
Walking in: Walk-ins are first-come, first-served only during CTF’s published walk-in windows and only while space remains. Scheduled visitors are the only visitors guaranteed entry.
Non-contact and restricted-housing visitsNon-contact visiting is not a choice — it is what applies while someone is in reception (newly admitted to CDCR, or just transferred between prisons) or is segregated.
Arrive, and report to visitor processing
Visitor processing starts at the posted visiting start time and continues until one hour before the posted end time. Adults complete a pass; visitors and possessions undergo security screening.
Parking: Use the central visitor parking lot on Soledad Prison Road. Facility A/B visitors wait at the covered area beside the lot for the institution bus; the driver makes pickups every 30 minutes, at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.
Where to report: Use the entrance assigned to the person’s current housing. Facility A/B visitors wait beside the central visitor lot and take the institution bus, which picks up at 15 and 45 minutes past each hour.
Bring the right things, and only those
Allowed in
- Only specifically authorized items may enter. Visitors and property are searched; drugs, weapons, and unapproved items are prohibited.
Identification: Adults must present valid, current, unexpired photo identification; accepted forms include state driver licenses/IDs, military ID, ICE ID, U.S. passport, or qualifying foreign passport/consular ID.
How many may visit: Only scheduled visitors are guaranteed entry. Walk-ins are processed first-come, first-served and are not accepted after the room reaches capacity.
Bringing a child: Adults list accompanying minors on the visiting pass. Minors undergo security screening, and CDCR allows specified infant/toddler supplies.
Video visits and cost: Weekend video visiting at adult institutions has ended. CDCR says eligible tablet users receive 15 minutes of free video calling every two weeks, while audio calls from California state prisons are free to both parties.
Phone calls, money and mail
Phone calls
You cannot call in. CDCR states that it is up to the incarcerated person to initiate the call, and that calls are limited to 15 minutes. That single fact explains most of what families find confusing: the switchboard will not connect you, there is no voicemail, and a call arriving from an unfamiliar number is normal. What you can do from the outside is make sure the call can reach you — that your number is not blocked by your carrier, that it is not a VoIP or virtual number the system will refuse, and that whatever account arrangement the facility uses is set up and funded before he tries. For anything urgent, a message goes through the institution rather than the phone system.
Putting money on the books
Before anything else you need the person's CDCR number, from California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS), and their current location from CDCR's facility locator. CDCR then lists three routes. Electronic funds transfer through one of its vendors: GTL/ConnectNetwork, JPay, or Access Corrections. A lock box deposit, which CDCR states carries no fee when sent by money order, personal check or cashier's check: complete the Money Order Deposit Form with the sender's name and address, make the payment payable to JPay, and mail it to JPay, 2202 South Figueroa St, Box #3001, Los Angeles, CA 90007. CDCR caps this at $999.99 per money order, holds personal checks for ten business days, and warns that any letter or note enclosed with a payment will be discarded. Or send a check or money order to the institution itself. Vendor fees vary by amount and method, so check the vendor's own figure before you send.
Writing to someone here
Anyone may write to a person in a California state prison. Incoming letters are opened and inspected for contraband, then forwarded. CDCR asks that the envelope carry the person's full committed name and CDC number, the institution name, the P.O. box and housing assignment where known (CDCR states housing is preferable), and the city, CA and ZIP. The housing assignment is the part most people do not have: get it, and the CDCR number, from California Incarcerated Records and Information Search (CIRIS), from the institution's Public Information Officer, or from CDCR's Identification Unit. Note that the address mail goes to is not always the institution's street address, so confirm it before posting anything you cannot replace.
Full committed name · CDCR number · housing
Correctional Training Facility (CTF)
Inmate Facility A & B, P.O. Box 705, Soledad, CA 93960
Full committed name · CDCR number · housing
Correctional Training Facility (CTF)
Inmate Facility C, P.O. Box 689, Soledad, CA 93960
Full committed name · CDCR number · housing
Correctional Training Facility (CTF)
Inmate Facility D, P.O. Box 690, Soledad, CA 93960
Full committed name · CDCR number · housing
Correctional Training Facility (CTF)
All Staff: P.O. Box 686, Soledad, CA 93960-0686
Getting there, and staying
Soledad has limited lodging, with more choices farther south in King City. These are planning options, not endorsements; confirm the exact room, accessibility, parking, deposit and cancellation deadline. Monterey-Salinas Transit serves Soledad with Line 32 and the South County corridor with Lines 23/23X. The published public routes should not be assumed to enter the prison grounds.
Where to stay
Somewhere to eat
| Place | What and when | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Taco Bell1185 Front Street, Soledad, CA 93960 | Official page lists breakfast, drive-through, delivery and late-night service | (831) 678-9692 |
| Subway3016 H Dela Rosa Street, Soledad, CA 93960 | Official page lists breakfast, mobile ordering, delivery and catering | (831) 678-0110 |
Local planning notes
Road check: Use Caltrans QuickMap for Highway 101 conditions and recheck CTF’s live status. VSA sends cancellation notices to scheduled visitors; walk-ins should call before leaving.
Inside the institution
A/B use three-tier two-person cellblocks plus dorms; C uses nine three-tier two-person cellblocks and includes a 240-bed one-person-cell ASU; D closed in 2021.
Restricted housing
Facility C has a three-tier, one-person-cell Administrative Segregation Unit with total capacity listed as 240.
Health care, programs and release preparation
These services differ by institution. The details below describe what this prison reports, not a systemwide promise that every person qualifies for every program.
Health care
Each facility has medical, dental and mental-health services; CCHCS publishes a facility-specific patient inquiry number.
Education, training and work
Adult basic education, high school/GED, literacy, computer-assisted education, college and numerous vocational/building-trade programs.
Preparing for release
An on-site family-liaison case manager assists pre-release preparation and family reunification; Transitions-Pre Release and other treatment/self-help programs are listed.
Reported figures
These are the institution’s own returns to the state, and every group is dated. They have to be: the figures come from separate documents on separate cadences, and reading the whole set as one snapshot would be wrong.
Capacity and population
as at 30 April 2026How the population is housed
as at 30 June 2024Staffing
as at 30 June 2024Education and training
as at 30 June 2024CDCR Infrastructure Master Plan, Appendix 1 (May 2026) (Public record) · California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, SB601 Reporting (CC BY 4.0)
Guides that go wider than this institution
These cover the same ground across every facility in the directory, which is what you want if the person may be moved, or if you are helping someone in a different state.