Plan to Reduce Jail Overcrowding Delayed : Gates Authorizes Low-Risk ‘Citation’ Releases to Meet Court Order

To the dismay of many county officials, plans for a court program intended to further reduce overcrowding at the Orange County Jail will not be ready for county approval until next month, judges told Supervisor Thomas F. Riley Thursday.

Sheriff Brad Gates, facing a federal court order that he keep a lid on the jail’s population, does not plan to wait, however. He has authorized his staff at the jail to begin releasing some low-risk inmates on their own recognizance --by issuing them citations instead of keeping them in jail--starting this morning.

Central Municipal Court’s detention release office usually releases between 1,300 and 1,500 new misdemeanor arrestees a month on their own recognizance. Court investigators essentially approve their release after interviewing them on the first floor of the jail at the time of their arrest, provided they are not a threat to the community and appear likely to show up for court appearances on charges against them.

‘Extraordinary Effort’

That number jumped to nearly 1,800 last month, when detention release investigators went on 60-hour workweeks and even administrators pitched in to help Gates meet a mid-August deadline that no inmates be forced to sleep on the floor because of overcrowding. Gates credited “an extraordinary effort” by detention release officials with helping him comply with the order.

But detention release is just a tiny program, with only eight investigators to cover three eight-hour shifts at the jail over seven days a week. According to detention release director Don Bell, some inmates who might qualify for detention release have to stay in jail because there are not enough investigators to look into their background.

Some judges have urged the county to make detention release a countywide program, with investigators in all the municipal courts plus most of the city jails.

Shortly after the mid-August deadline was met, however, the detention release staff reverted to a 40-hour workweek. Without expansion of the program, one high official said Thursday, “that jail is going to be back in serious trouble.”

No one is more aware of that than the presiding judge of West County Municipal Court, Kathleen O’Leary, who is part of a group studying expansion of detention release for the Board of Supervisors.

Recommendation Not Ready

O’Leary appeared almost battle-weary after telling officials at a meeting of the supervisors’ judicial advisory council, chaired by Board Chairman Riley, that her group isn’t ready for a recommendation on detention release.

“I know we have to do something about the jail, I know how important all this is,” she said. “Believe me, we are working on it. But I’m finding out these things just take a lot of time.”

O’Leary said a proposal would not be ready for the supervisors until next month.

When U.S. District Judge William P. Gray issued his first orders to reduce overcrowding on March 18, there were more than 2,000 inmates at the men’s jail and no more than 1,500 beds. Now the population is in the 1,400s, and there are 1,657 beds. Gray first told the county he would issue a fine of $10 a day for each inmate who was without a bed for more than 24 hours. He strengthened that order last month to flatly require that the jail provide a bed for any inmate who had been at the jail more than 24 hours.

Sudden Surge Feared

Lawrence Grossman, the special master appointed by Gray to monitor jail conditions, reported Wednesday that jail officials have been in compliance with that order every single day so far.

But jail officials have little control over how many people police agencies in the county bring into the jail. Gates says he fears that a sudden surge in arrests could make it impossible for him to comply with Gray’s most recent order that no inmates be without a bed.

Gates said in a recent interview that he would use “citation release” only as a last resort.

“I think the courts should say when someone is going to be released, not the sheriff,” Gates said.

But Gates made the comment during the period when detention release officials were pulling long shifts at the jail. Sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Dick Olson said Thursday that Gates ordered his jail staff to use citation release this morning “only if the situation requires it, and only (for) those inmates (who) we know won’t be any risk.”