California

In 1932, California government purchased 1,760 acres of land in Lewis Ranch in order to build the Camarillo State Mental Hospital (1936 – 1997). Camarillo treated patients with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses; criminally ill patients were sent to Atascadero State Hospital.locations/north-america/usa/california/

The Atascadero State Hospital (DSHA) was opened in 1954 as a state-run, self-contained forensic center designed to house inmates deemed "criminally insane" by the Superior Court, Board of Prison Terms, and/or the Department of Corrections.

Originally opening as “The Great Asylum for the Insane” in 1885 and later called “California Hospital for the Chronic Insane” and “State Asylum at Agnews” (1889), the facility was established by an act of the California Legislature in order to care for the mentally ill.