Orange County Ponders Use of Jail S.D. County Can’t Afford to Operate

An Orange County supervisor is floating the idea of having his county rent the East Mesa jail that is now sitting empty because San Diego County lacks the money to operate it.

“It seems ironic that less than an hour and a half away (from Santa Ana), 1,500 jail beds are sitting there vacant,” while Orange County is desperately trying to meet its growing jail overcrowding problem, Orange County Supervisor Don Roth said Wednesday.

Roth first discussed the idea last week with San Diego County Supervisor Leon L. Williams. At Williams’ suggestion, the San Diego supervisors Tuesday directed their staff to contact Orange County to explore the proposal.

The idea faces key obstacles, chiefly the cost of busing prisoners to the East Mesa jail site, and the civil liberties issues raised by housing them about 95 miles from their families and lawyers.

Roth concedes that the idea may sound “far-fetched.”

Indeed, just six months ago it might have been quickly brushed aside as unworkable by Orange County officials.

But last October, a decade-old plan for building a new jail in Anaheim collapsed because of financial and legislative hurdles, adding an urgency to the county’s jail problem. Plans to expand an existing jail also have been stymied.

“If (San Diego) could prove cost-effective, why shouldn’t we look at it?” Roth said. “We don’t have anything else.”

Orange County leaders appear to be taking the San Diego proposal seriously.

“It’s appropriate that we look at this,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Roger R. Stanton said, “but I don’t know where it’s going to go.”

Marilyn Brewer, an aide to Supervisor Thomas F. Riley who works on jail issues, said: “Under these circumstances, every option deserves consideration. We can’t afford to close the door on any ideas.”

Asked about the proposal, Orange County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider said simply: “All I want to know is how much.”

How much Roth’s idea would cost will be the key subject for negotiation if talks progress, officials in San Diego and Orange County agreed.

Williams, who first discussed the idea with Roth earlier this month at a meeting of County Supervisors Assn. of California members, said San Diego County will want to be paid adequately for any rental and to leave itself enough flexibility to house its own inmates if fiscal times change.

“We don’t want to fill the facility just to fill it,” Williams said. “But, if we can’t use it, let’s see if we can get some good out of it.”

Times staff writer Leonard Bernstein contributed to this report.