San Diego
A San Diego City Council committee authorized City Manager John Lockwood to begin negotiations with Wackenhut Corrections Corp. to build a privately operated 200-bed prearraignment jail at the East Otay Mesa Correctional Complex.
The private jail, believed to be the first of its kind in California, would house misdemeanor offenders beginning Dec. 6, if the city can award a contract by April 9. The full City Council must approve.
However, the city has not yet decided how to pay for the $6.5-million jail. Negotiations with the county to lease the 4 acres on East Mesa also are continuing. The city is seeking a state grant to pay for first-year jail costs.
The jail would house some of the more than 100 misdemeanor offenders released from county jails every day because of crowding.
A selection committee chose from among four proposals to build and operate the jail. Wackenhut Corrections manages 10 jails in seven states.
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