The Department of Corrections was organized in 1944 under the Prison Reorganization Act (Stats. 1944, ch. 2, Third Ex. Sess., in effect May 1, 1944). The department succeeded to the powers of the Department of Penology, the State Board of Prison Directors, the Bureau of Paroles and the California Crime Commission. The stimulus for the reorganization stemmed from the recommendations of the Governor's Special Committee on Penal Affairs, appointed November 29, 1943, which held extensive hearings on California's correctional system. For a detailed listing of the Committee's papers see the EARL WARREN PAPERS-GOVERNOR'S COMMITTEE ON PENAL AFFAIRS, F3540:971. The department as originally constituted included the Director as chief administrative officer, the Adult Authority, the Board of Corrections, the Board of Trustees of the California Institution for Women, the Youth Authority (a separate Department of Youth Authority was created in 1953, ch. 1305), and jurisdiction over State Prisons at San Quentin and Folsom, the California Institution for Men at Chino, and the California Institution for Women, Tehachapi.

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