Chowchilla gets temporary restraining order on state's plan to convert female prison to male

California corrections officials have agreed to temporarily halt a conversion of Chowchilla's Valley State Prison for Women into a men's facility.

It was welcome news in the city, which is waging a legal battle over the project in Madera County Superior Court.

"This is the first step at attempting to have the state keep its promise to Madera County and our community," said Mark Lewis, city manager. "They made the promise that if they were going to do a conversion they would do and environmental impact review so the public can have input. To this day they've done everything to avoid that."

Tension over the planned conversion heightened after prison officials filed a California Environmental Quality Act exemption to bypass an impact study the city was requesting.

The city responded in court by challenging the self-granted exemption. However, while the court decides whether the conversion must undergo an environmental study, there was concern prison officials were continuing the physical conversion of the facility.

Paperwork was being filed but no actual construction was taking place, said Dana Toyama, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

"We've been saying we want to work with the county and the city on this issue," she said. "This agreement is a concrete example of that cooperation. We'll continue to work with the city of Chowchilla in whatever way we can."

The Department of Corrections has agreed to delay the conversion at least until Sept. 1, after a Superior Court judge is due to rule on whether the conversion is subject to CEQA law.

"The hard work will be showing the court that the self-granted exemption wasn't valid," Lewis said. "That's the work ahead of us. A little bit of a David-and-Goliath deal here."

City officials have voiced concern that bringing male prisoners to the area also will bring an influx of families that will put significant stress on local resources.

Prison officials have denied this claim and presented a limited analysis to support their position, but an official impact study hasn't been conducted.

The first hearing on the city's legal challenge is planned for the middle of February.

Reporter Joshua Emerson Smith can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or jsmith@mercedsunstar.com.