Will Facilitate Expansion Plans : Downtown Jail’s 750-Inmate Cap to Rise

The 750-inmate limit at County Jail downtown will be increased by 300 next year when the County Jail in Vista is closed for expansion, a judge decided Thursday.

The court-imposed cap will be raised because the closing of the Vista jail will force the county’s other overcrowded jails either to accept more than 400 inmates or release some prisoners.

“We have to find a place for these people,” said Superior Court Judge James Malkus. The rated capacity of the Vista jail is 246, but it was housing 418 inmates on Thursday.

Preparations are being made to accommodate a one-year, 1,050-inmate cap at the downtown San Diego jail, which should be enough to prevent a significant increase in El Cajon, Santee and other branch jails, Sheriff’s Department officials said.

The central jail population was 700 on Thursday morning, and a Sheriff’s Department log showed it has been between 668 and 780 since late May, Malkus said.

“I’m satisfied that things are progressing well,” said the judge, who scheduled another periodic review of the jail population on Oct. 22.

After meeting privately with attorneys for the county and plaintiffs in a jail overcrowding lawsuit, Malkus was assured that steps are being taken at the downtown jail to prepare for the displaced prisoners from the Vista facility.

“We’re doing it in stages as we get beds and can refurbish them,” said Cmdr. Mel Nichols, supervisor of the county’s jails. “We’re doing a little bit each week.”

The inmate limit at the downtown jail was prompted by a 1977 lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of five inmates who alleged that overcrowding in the jail made conditions there unacceptable.

Overall, according to Nichols, the capacity of the county’s jail system is rated at 1,716, “and (Thursday) morning we had 3,001” prisoners.

Malkus noted that the county’s jail system is housing an average of 200 inmates per day fewer than it was three months ago during the last review. Nichols said the drop is primarily because about 250 state parole violators have been removed from local custody.