Stopgap Jail Would Hold Misdemeanor Offenders

Frustrated that suspects in misdemeanor crimes are being ticketed and set free because of overcrowding at Orange County Jail, city officials have moved to establish a temporary, 48-unit holding facility until a permanent city jail is built.

The City Council voted Monday to get bids to lease temporary space--a modular unit made out of trailers converted into jail cells--and to begin searching for an administrator to oversee it. Officials said the temporary cells probably would be located near the police headquarters on Ross Street and could be in place by the end of the year.

“It would enable police officers to bring (suspects) down, hold them, and be able to run warrant checks, and get the person out of the neighborhoods and out of the business community until a decision can be made about sending them to court,” Councilman Robert L. Richardson said before the meeting.

While supporting the concept, Councilman John Acosta and Richards L. Norton questioned the annual operating costs of the temporary jail, estimated at $1.2 million.

City Manager David N. Ream said the city “could make some money on this effort” because it would help the city avoid paying the $2-million annual jail booking fee charged by the county.

But under the proposal approved by the council, the temporary facility would hold misdemeanor offenders not currently accepted at the County Jail and would not hold prisoners accused of felonies.

When the city constructed its police facilities in 1960, it included only three holding cells because officials assumed that their prisoners could be taken to County Jail located just a few feet from police headquarters.

But the county facility is overcrowded, and since 1985, misdemeanor offenders such as drunk drivers, vagrants, prostitutes and weapons violators have received citations and been released without spending time in jail.