City, County Agree on Plan to Build Jail, Add 9 Courtrooms

San Diego city and county officials Monday announced a 10-point plan to address the region’s jail crisis, committing two historically uncooperative governments to work together on construction of a 2,700-bed pre-arraignment jail and the addition of nine courtrooms downtown.

Under the tentative agreement, the city would offer land for jail sites and $3 million in redevelopment money to pay for courtroom construction. In return, the county would spend $33 million in state funds on construction of the first phase of the pre-arraignment jail and agree not to move any of the Superior Courts out of downtown San Diego.

‘Beginning of Cooperation’

If approved at a joint meeting of the San Diego City Council and the county Board of Supervisors Thursday, the “memorandum of understanding” would for the first time make large amounts of city land and money available to the county for construction of jails and courtrooms--a responsibility that city officials have historically asserted is the county’s alone.

“It’s a tremendous beginning of cooperation between the two legislative bodies that represent the same constituents,” said Presiding Superior Court Judge Michael I. Greer, who just two weeks ago predicted dire consequences from the city’s decision to add 116 police officers to its force without a corresponding increase in jail space. “It requires this kind of cooperation in order to create a solution.”

“The days of saying, ‘It’s not our problem, it’s somebody else’s problem’ are over with,” said Supervisor Brian Bilbray, a member of the committee that negotiated the agreement.

Mayor Endorses Basic Pact

Mayor Maureen O’Connor, who two weeks ago rebuffed calls from Greer and other law enforcement officials for city assistance in building jails, endorsed the basic agreement but withheld comment on specifics until she has an opportunity to review them, said her spokesman, Paul Downey.

Under the agreement, it is expected to take three years to build the 500-bed first phase of the pre-arraignment jail. Until then, the jail crowding that forces police to cite and release more than 100 misdemeanor arrestees every day will continue, officials said.

On July 24, county jails held 5,160 inmates, more than double their official capacity of 2,039, making them the most crowded jails in the nation for the second consecutive year.

“There is nothing that we have done or can do that will give immediate relief to the tremendous problem that’s before us,” said Supervisor George Bailey.

In the interim, officials are looking to the completion of the Vista jail for some help. Bookings into the jail, which has been enlarged from 246 to 545 beds, should begin next month. The jail’s capacity will be further increased when double-bunking of inmates begins almost immediately, said Rich Robinson, director of the county’s office of special projects.

Officials also announced that they will support legislation aimed at allowing double-bunking in jails built with state money, such as the 1,040-bed East Mesa facility scheduled to open in the spring of 1991.

Bailey, Bilbray and San Diego City Council members Ed Struiksma and Gloria McColl were appointed in May to the committee that negotiated the tentative agreement and announced it at a news conference Monday. Also represented were the Regional Justice Facility Financing Agency, which oversees spending of sales tax revenue earmarked for jails, and the city’s redevelopment agency.

The terms of the agreement call for the city to lease land to the county at a “nominal” sum for the proposed new pre-arraignment jail, which is projected to hold 2,700 inmates.

At a news conference, Struiksma said 40 acres north of California 52, east of Convoy Street, and a larger parcel on the grounds of Miramar Naval Air Station, west of Jackson Drive, are two city-owned plots under consideration as jail sites. The former is the site once envisioned for the proposed SANDER trash-to-energy plant, and the latter is envisioned as the home of the Police Department’s academy and pistol range. Both areas are within the city.

Struiksma stressed, however, that other parcels, both publicly and privately owned, are under consideration.

If county lawyers win a court battle to uphold the legality of a half-cent sales tax earmarked for jail construction, some of the $1.6 billion in revenue from the tax will be spent to buy the land from the city at fair market value within 12 months of a final judgment in the lawsuit.

In March, a Superior Court judge struck down the tax as a violation of Proposition 13, the 1978 initiative that cut property taxes. The supervisors are appealing.

If the county loses the legal battle, and another major source of funds becomes available, that money would be used to buy the land, according the terms of the agreement. In similarly vague language, the city would agree to spend any major new revenue it discovers to help the county finance, build and operate jails and courts within city limits. Distribution of fines and booking charges between the city and county would remain the same if new money is found.

Even without new funding, the agreement commits the county to spend $33 million in revenue that it will receive from the state in September to build the first phase of the jail.

Planning and construction of that facility, including preparation of an environmental impact report and possible mitigation of any environmental damage, could take three years, Robinson said.

The city’s redevelopment arm would make available $3 million already budgeted for construction of nine new courtrooms downtown. County officials are negotiating with owners of the former El Cortez Hotel on Ash Street and the Walker Scott building on Broadway for space for the courtrooms, Robinson said.

Would Keep Court Downtown

In return, the county would agree to keep the court system downtown and maintain it.

“If we had to move the courts out of downtown, it would decimate revitalization efforts,” Bilbray said.

The agreement also resurrects a city plan to hire a private company to build and operate a 200-bed pre-arraignment jail. Although that jail could be built more quickly, perhaps in less than a year, it depends on receipt of $12 million from the Legislature.

Under terms of the agreement, the county would endorse the concept, giving the city added support in its quest for the money.

The $12 million was part of a request for $34 million in emergency assistance shot down by Gov. George Deukmejian during this year’s budget deliberations. His staff suggested that the declaration of emergency by O’Connor and the council was “a publicity stunt.”

Patricia Tennyson, director of the city’s Inter-Governmental Relations Department, said some legislators expressed interest in the concept during recent deliberations, but she would not predict the chances of passage next year.