More Time Asked for Jail Work

The court-appointed special master for the Orange County Jail has asked U.S. District Judge William P. Gray to extend his Dec. 1 deadline for a 1,500-inmate limit at the men’s jail to Jan. 15, 1986.

Special Master Lawrence G. Grossman told the judge in a Nov. 6 report, made public Tuesday, that jail officials need more time to prepare the 450-bed temporary modular units at the James A. Musick facility near El Toro.

Jail officials now say the modular units won’t be ready before mid-December.

Expect Extension

Both the attorneys for the county and for the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the court action about jail overcrowding, expect Gray to extend the deadline in a few days because the request is coming from his own appointed expert.

“I’m not really happy about it, but I’m not opposed to it,” said Richard Herman, the ACLU attorney. “I think they could reduce the jail population in other ways, such as releasing a lot of misdemeanor people. But I don’t think this short delay will be a problem.”

Deputy County Counsel Ed Duran said the special master’s request saves the county from making a similar one.

Gray found Sheriff Brad Gates and the county supervisors in criminal contempt on March 18 and imposed a $50,000 fine for failing to comply with his 7-year-old order to reduce overcrowding at the main jail. He also appointed Grossman, a retired federal warden, as special master.

Gray at first ordered that the county pay $10 a day for each inmate who had to sleep on the floor for more than 24 hours because of overcrowding. In August, he strengthened that order to say that no inmates could sleep on the floor after the first 24 hours. He also set the 1,500-inmate maximum for Dec. 1 and a 1,400-inmate ceiling by April 1, 1986.

Theo Lacy Project

The second ceiling was ordered to coincide with the 180-bed expansion project at the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange.

Assistant Sheriff Jerry Krans, in charge of corrections, said Tuesday that the Lacy expansion is on schedule. The Musick expansion, Krans said, is taking a little longer than expected.

Grading for the new, temporary facility was completed on time by Challenge Engineering Inc. of Cypress. The slight delay occurred because of problems with the modulars installed by World Hospitality, a Texas-based company.

County officials found the lighting and electrical wiring inadequate for a jail facility, prompting a need to improve those items, according to county General Services Agency spokesman Vergil Best. For example, toilets have to be constructed so that they cannot be torn apart and used as a weapon, Krans said, and minor details, such as checking to make sure a carpentry crew didn’t leave a screwdriver behind, have to be checked.

Jail ‘Takes More Time’

“If they were building a dormitory for a school or housing for work crews, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” Krans said. “But to build a jail in the middle of a field takes a little more time.”

Gates, on the judge’s approval, already has installed four large tents at Musick to house 250-plus inmates. It still is undecided whether Gray will be asked to let those tents remain once the modular units are ready.

In his latest report to Gray, Grossman states that the main jail has been in full compliance with the judge’s Aug. 26 order that no inmates be required to sleep on the floor past the first 24 hours of incarceration. In fact, Grossman reported that inmates at the main jail “were quiet and appeared relaxed.”

Grossman did recommend more security for the tent area at Musick and some minor improvements at Theo Lacy, such as more recreation space for some of the more confined inmates, and more warm clothes for inmates.