Regional Jail Proposed by Supervisor : Government: A jointly run facility in the Riverside County desert east of Indio is suggested to solve Orange County’s jail overcrowding crisis and siting turmoil.

To alleviate jail overcrowding in Orange County, Supervisor Don R. Roth on Wednesday proposed establishing a regional jail authority that would build and operate a multicounty prison facility in southeastern Riverside County.

Roth, who said he has discussed the plan in a series of private meetings with a Riverside County supervisor, said the facility would house long-term Orange County inmates serving sentences ranging from two months to a year--at a potential cost savings of as much as $120 million.

As proposed, it would be built and operated jointly by Orange, Riverside and possibly other interested counties under a Southern California Regional Jail Authority. One site that could be considered is near Eagle Mountain, 55 miles east of Indio and north of the Salton Sea. It would be the first jail in California to be jointly operated by two counties.

“The regional jail approach represents our best chance to solve Orange County’s jail overcrowding crisis in a cost-effective manner with popular support,” Roth said.

Such a facility, according to Roth’s staff, could eliminate the need for a planned county jail in Gypsum Canyon, a facility to be built east of Anaheim Hills that he and another supervisor have opposed.

The idea was immediately criticized by Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Brad Gates, who said the county’s jail overcrowding problems would not be solved “by moving it (the jail) to someone else’s back yard.”

Gates, while saying he had few details about the plan, said it is fraught with legal and logistical problems.

“You are talking about a four-hour drive each way. That’s eight hours a trip,” he said. “It’s mind-boggling.” He said serious problems of administration and staffing of such a jail could be serious barriers. The county already has spent $7 million in planning for the Gypsum Canyon jail, Gates said.

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, who also opposes the Gypsum Canyon jail site, which is in his district, said the Riverside County proposal is certainly worth exploring, but he warned there are legal barriers to be overcome.

Roth disclosed Wednesday that he has held a series of private meetings on the plan with Riverside County Supervisor Patricia (Corky) Larson over the last year. The proposal has received her support, said Roth’s aide, Dan Wooldridge. Larson was not available for comment Wednesday.

For years the county has been struggling with finding a site for a new jail to relieve overcrowding in the present facilities.

Roth, in a letter to other supervisors, said, “We need to search out every new alternative which solves part of the jail overcrowding problem while circumventing the passionate opposition to siting a local facility.” The proposal did not mention methods of raising money for building and operating a jail.

State Sen. Robert Presley (D-Riverside) said he is supportive of the multiple-county jail concept but warned that the Eagle Mountain location “might not get off the ground.”

He said the area already has a state minimum-security facility that is being increased from 200 to 400 inmates, and there have been other proposals to use the area for the disposal of trash from Los Angeles.

“I think the people out there are getting a little tired of it all,” he said.

Presley, who has carried major crime and prison legislation, said he had been encouraging counties to look at regional solutions to some of their problems. He said state bond money might even be available for such a regional facility.

State Sen. John Seymour (R-Anaheim) said he supported the concept of regional county jails in the Legislature. But he said there are difficult problems that have to be overcome such as who would control the jail and be responsible for the staffing.

“I think this stuff can be worked out,” said Seymour, a former mayor of Anaheim who also opposes the Gypsum Canyon jail site.

County officials noted that there is a railroad track that runs from Santa Ana to within miles of the proposed site for the joint jail facility.

But even Roth was cautious: “A joint powers agency in another county may prove to be a complex legal and operational challenge. . . . “

Roth will ask the full board Tuesday to:

* Approve in concept the feasibility of a regional jail facility for meeting the county’s jail needs.

* Direct the County Administrative Office to evaluate and review the regional jail concept and report back in 180 days, identifying the major issues, alternatives and costs.

* Direct the County Administrative Office to study the feasibility of establishing a Southern California Regional Jail Authority.

* Direct the County Administrative Office to provide reports to the board every 60 days concerning a regional jail.

“I believe this effort will result in a potentially more cost-effective and remote site to house long-term inmates,” Roth said.

Anthony C. Hughes, vice president in charge of public finance for The First Boston Company, said his firm, which has worked for both Orange and Riverside counties in bond funding matters, did a feasibility study on a joint jail for Orange and Riverside.

The cost savings, Hughes said, were estimated at $80 million to $120 million. But others, including Sheriff Gates, contended that construction of a jail is only a small part of the larger ongoing operational costs.