Study Concludes Sheriff Should Run Jail : No Significant Savings Seen in Creating Corrections Department

In a victory for Sheriff Brad Gates, county staff members have recommended against setting up a separate corrections department to run Orange County jails, concluding that replacing deputy sheriffs as jailers would not save a significant amount of money.

“In view of the findings of the studies that have been conducted and the experiences of other jurisdictions, it is recommended that the formation of a department of corrections should not be given further consideration,” a report to be considered by the Board of Supervisors today says.

The report, prepared by the county administrative office, also urged that Lawrence G. Grossman be hired as a consultant on holding down jail costs while the county struggles to comply with a federal court order to cut jail overcrowding.

Grossman, a former federal prison warden, was appointed in 1985 as a special monitor of the county’s efforts to improve conditions in its jail system, especially at the overcrowded main men’s jail in Santa Ana.

Contempt of Court

Grossman was selected by U.S. District Judge William P. Gray after the judge in March of last year found Gates and the supervisors in contempt of court for not complying with his 1978 order to improve jail conditions.

In the subsequent months, county officials expanded branch jails, picked a site in Anaheim for a new, 1,500-inmate jail and stepped up their hunt for a site for another jail that could hold up to 5,000 inmates. They also endorsed Gates’ refusal to take public drunks into the main jail and the inauguration of a new system of confining some minimum-risk inmates at home, with their whereabouts monitored with electronic devices.

Last July, County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish reported that the projected cost of handling inmates was $1.3 billion over the next 15 years.

County officials said annual costs for jail-related programs could triple from $32.3 million to $97.4 million by the year 2000, cutting into county funds for other programs.

The cost projections led the supervisors to commission the county administrative office’s study to find out if it would be cheaper to have the jails run by a corrections department, using lower-paid staff, than by sheriff’s deputies.

Sheriff Opposed Change

Although the supervisors took pains to say that the study was not part of a power struggle with Gates, a new department would lessen his influence. The sheriff did not comment publicly on the study, but county officials said they were aware that he was opposed to a change.

In an interview last week, Gates said the current system of putting new deputy sheriffs in the jail for at least two years is working well.

“We’ve proven that the system works better if there is a changeover in personnel at the jail,” Gates said. “A corrections officer would be there on a permanent basis, and I don’t think that works as well. By rotating deputies in and out of the jail, we keep them fresh.

“I also think the training our deputies get in other areas of law enforcement makes them better prepared to work in a jail than a corrections officer. I’m not saying that system is bad, but ours is better.”

The administrative report said that the recent trend has been to boost the pay of correctional officers to make it closer to deputies and that “the historical savings that were once realized (are) closing to a negligible gap.” Thus there is “no economic benefit” involved in using them.

The report did recommend, however, continuing the effort to use civilians in jail jobs as much as possible. It said 36% of the county’s corrections staff is now civilians.

The 1979-80 grand jury recommended continuing to use deputies in the jail because they have more training, fewer resignations and can be reassigned to the field in an emergency.

A 1983 management study of the sheriff-coroner’s office also said that replacing deputies would not be wise, but it recommended increasing the number of civilians in the system where possible.

The latest report said Grossman, if hired as a consultant, could study a host of jail matters, ranging from best use of guards to measures that could reduce lawsuits against the jail to adequacy of staff training.