California Men's Colony (CMC) is an American male-only state prison located northwest of the city of San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo County, California, along the central California coast approximately halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

[3] The medium-security east facility has level III with individual cells, fenced perimeters and armed coverage, with housing divided into four quadrangles, as well as a licensed hospital and mental health delivery system.

[3] As of Fiscal Year 2006/2007, CMC had a total of 1,870 staff and an annual operating budget of $151 million.

[4] CMC has been called a "country club" and "garden spot" among California prisons because of its wide variety of vocational, educational and psychological-treatment programs.

"[14] A San Luis Obispo County grand jury produced a 2005 report observing that "while old and overcrowded, CMC was well maintained.