Countywide : $140,000 Bill in Dispute Over Jail to Be Discussed

The county Board of Supervisors is being asked to spend up to $140,000 this year on a court battle over its plans to expand the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange.

Supervisors are scheduled Tuesday to consider the county counsel’s request to pay up to $100,000 to the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery to defend the county against Orange’s lawsuit over the expansion.

Also on the agenda is a request to spend up to $40,000 this year for the services of John C. Funk, an attorney who helped prepare the environmental impact report that became the basis of the county’s proposed jail expansion.

The $40,000 represents an increase of $20,000 over the amount the board approved Jan. 5 to be paid to Funk this year for his work on the jail additions. He is expected to help McDermott, Will & Emery in the lawsuit.

On Dec. 2, supervisors voted to expand Lacy’s current 800-inmate population to as many as 1,437 by adding four new buildings. The city opposed the expansion, saying that it already had done its fair share to help the county solve overcrowding and alleging that the county’s environmental impact report on the expansion was inadequate.

On Dec. 22, the Orange City Council authorized spending $50,000 for a private attorney to help in its fight with the county. The city’s lawsuit was filed the next week.