Wasco State Prison-Reception Center (WSP) is a 634 acre state prison located in Wasco in Kern County, California. The Wasco facility was the first of two reception centers in Kern County. The primary mission is to provide short term housing necessary to process, classify, and evaluate new inmates physically and mentally, to determine their security level, program requirements, and appropriate institutional placement. A 400-bed medium custody facility houses general population inmates to help support and maintain the reception center. A minimum custody facility provides institutional maintenance and landscaping services. As of July 31, 2022, Wasco was incarcerating people at 122.8% of its design capacity, with 3,667 occupants.

Notable inmates