State Seeks Bids for Grading Prison Site : Lancaster: Corrections officials might proceed despite a state Supreme Court ruling that temporarily blocks the purchase of the land.

The state is taking steps to hire a contractor to prepare the site of the proposed state prison in Lancaster despite a state Supreme Court ruling last week that temporarily bars acquisition of the land.

State Department of Corrections officials said Thursday that they have asked for bids for a $4.9-million contract to grade the 252-acre site in west Lancaster. The state attorney general’s office has advised department officials that the Supreme Court order does not prohibit awarding the contract Oct. 4 as planned.

But opponents of the prison, including Los Angeles County and the city of Lancaster, said they believe the court order prohibits any progress toward building the prison, including the grading contract, pending the outcome of city and county lawsuits over the prison.

Deputy County Counsel Jonathan B. Crane said the state is creating a loophole where none exists and argued that the state court blocked the entire acquisition and construction process.

Nonetheless, Crane and attorneys for the city said they will not challenge the decision to award the contract. They said they hoped the Sept. 24 hearing on city and county lawsuits that challenge the state’s environmental review of the prison site will settle the matter.

“Given the time line, I don’t know how crucial this is,” said David Mann, a lawyer for the city of Lancaster. “There are no bulldozers on the property.”

Mann said it might be hard to convince a judge that the state cannot issue contracts and perform other preparatory tasks.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Marsha S. Miller said in an interview Thursday that the state Supreme Court decision only blocks eminent domain proceedings, in which the state and county would negotiate the fair market value of the land and complete the purchase.

In July, state officials voluntarily halted the bidding for the grading contract when Superior Court Commissioner Herbert M. Klein ruled that the state had a right to acquire the land but granted a county request to block the acquisition while environmental lawsuits were pending.

In August, a state Court of Appeal panel reversed that ruling and said the state could proceed.

But last week, the appellate panel’s ruling was blocked by the state Supreme Court, which said it wanted time to hear a county appeal of the issue.