Board OKs Studies for Pitchess Jail Expansion
Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday decided to spend $201,232 for architectural and environmental studies of a plan to expand the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho.
Capt. John Butler, head of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s jail construction unit, said plans call for doubling the North Facility jail, one of five separate jails at the 2,800-acre Pitchess complex near Castaic.
North Facility is a maximum security compound that is designed to hold 768 inmates. Because of overcrowding, however, the unit sometimes holds up to twice that many.
Butler said the $25-million expansion project--which would include several dormitories, an administration building and a kitchen--would alleviate some of that overcrowding.
The expansion is part of a long-term plan to ease overcrowding systemwide. According to state standards, the current county jail system should house only 15,000 inmates. There are now 23,000 in custody.
The supervisors agreed to pay $116,232 to Albert C. Martin & Associates to design the expansion, and $85,000 to EIP Associates for an environmental impact report. Both firms are based in Los Angeles.
Butler said the Sheriff’s Department hopes to begin construction in July, 1992. He estimated that the project would take 18 months to complete.
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