The Region : Orange County Selects Site for New Jail

Orange County supervisors, ending years of rancorous debate, voted 3 to 2 to build a 6,191-inmate jail on 280 acres of remote canyon land in the northeast corner of the county. Selection of the Coal-Gypsum Canyon site came after seven hours of emotional testimony that ended weeks of protests against several prospective sites. A federal judge has imposed an inmate limit at the county’s main men’s jail, forcing the sheriff to turn away 350 people a week. The new facility is designed to end the county’s jail overcrowding problem for the rest of the century. The $664-million complex, to be built just south of the Riverside Freeway east of Anaheim Hills, is to be financed by a voter-approved bond measure. Opponents of the decision said they will sue to prevent the site’s use for a jail.