Double Bunking at County Jail May Begin Next Week

Double bunking could begin as early as next week at Orange County Jail if a Sheriff’s Department proposal is approved by the Board of Supervisors.

But officials expect the action to decrease only slightly the number of inmates who must be released early or cited and released because of severe inmate overcrowding.

The proposal, which allows officials to house two inmates each in 216 cells at the jail Intake/Release Center in Santa Ana, is scheduled to be heard by the supervisors Tuesday and is expected to be approved.

The proposal also calls for the hiring of 24 additional jail workers, including 10 deputies, to handle the larger inmate population; the purchase of two 53-seat buses to transport the additional inmates to and from court, and the purchase of additional communications equipment and supplies.

Most of the $1.7 million needed to pay for the plan will come from two special criminal justice funds, one of which is made up of forfeited fines and parking-ticket penalties, said Doug Woodyard of the county administrative office.

The staff increase, Woodyard said, is required by the state Board of Corrections, which in January exempted Orange County from a prohibition against double bunking at the Santa Ana jail. Even with the change, though, the overcrowding problem will be little affected, Assistant Sheriff John Hewitt said.

“It’s just a Band-Aid approach, but it will give us a little breathing room for now,” Hewitt said. “We will still have to cite and release prisoners on minor charges, and we’ll still have to occasionally release prisoners early but some of the more serious misdemeanors we’ll be able to keep a little bit longer.”

Jail overcrowding, he said, is worsening, not getting better, despite a federal court order to control it.

According to Hewitt, 32,904 inmates were released early or were simply cited and released from Orange County Jail facilities because of overcrowding in 1987. Last year, that figure had risen to 42,675, he said. This year, it is expected to surpass 50,000.

Longer-term solutions to the problem, officials have said, include the construction of a new jail and expansion of the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange. The expansion project is being challenged in court by the city of Orange and operators of The City shopping mall. The choice of a Gypsum Canyon site for a new, 3,744-bed county jail is being challenged by residents of the area who want any new jail to be built in Santa Ana.

Despite the opposition, county officials are continuing with both projects. In fact, the Sheriff’s Department will also ask the supervisors Tuesday to approve a $1.9-million staffing plan for the Theo Lacy expansion. Some of the money for the plan will also come from a special criminal justice planning fund, Woodyard said. The rest will come from the county general fund, he said.

The double bunking, according to a report to the supervisors prepared by Hewitt, will increase the staff-to-inmate ratio in two areas of the Intake/Release Center from 1-to-48 to 1-to-64. The inmate population in the areas would increase by 100%, from 96 to 192 inmates, the report said.

The population increase, it said, “will also increase the potential for conflicts between inmates and between staff and inmates,” concurring with the corrections board assessment that more deputies need to be hired.