Santee Hearing on Jail Postponed

A hearing in the legal challenge by the City of Santee to prevent the County of San Diego from building a 600-bed temporary mens’ jail in the East County city has been postponed a week so the Superior Court judge in the case can review the file.

Superior Court Judge Andrew G. Wagner on Friday postponed the hearing until 9 a.m. next Friday, so he could review the pleadings submitted by the City of Santee and the county.

At issue is a July vote by the county Board of Supervisors to build the temporary mens’ quarters in Santee to ease jail overcrowding. The 600 beds would be housed in modular buildings erected next to Las Colinas jail for women.

The plan drew angry opposition from Santee residents and officials, and the East County city filed papers in Superior Court to stop the county from proceeding with its plan, which would require spending more than $1 million and hiring 146 people, according to court documents.

Santee officials--who said the county’s plans would place a “concentration camp complete with barbed wire” in the heart of their city--have asked the court to repeal the decision to build the temporary jail because county officials haven’t completed an environmental impact statement for the project, which is required by state law.