Orange Wins Venue Change in County Jail Suit : Jurisdiction: The city’s bid to halt a 900-bed expansion of the existing Theo Lacy facility will be assigned to a judge from another county.

Orange city officials, questioning whether they can get a fair trial here in their efforts to block a local jail expansion, won their bid Wednesday to have the case moved out of the county courts.

Under the ruling by Orange County Superior Court Commissioner Eleanor M. Palk, the city’s lawsuit against the county will be assigned to a judge from another county. It must still be determined, however, whether that judge will hear the case elsewhere or use a county courtroom.

While county officials said the change of venue will waste taxpayers’ money, officials from Orange and supporters hailed it as a key strategic victory.

“This certainly gives us a better feeling--we’re going to have a neutral judge deciding this,” said Geoffrey K. Willis, the attorney who won the change of venue.

Orange officials are trying to block the county from moving ahead with a plan that could ultimately add 900 beds at Theo Lacy Branch Jail, nearly doubling the size of the Orange facility.

In 1990, county officials agreed in talks with Orange officials to cap further Theo Lacy expansions. But county officials said early this year that a dire need for jail beds has forced them to rethink that.

In response, the city sued in February, alleging breach of contract and other violations.

The city’s suit also alleges that the Sheriff’s Department has reclassified its booking system so that it keeps maximum-security prisoners at what is supposed to be a medium-security facility. Sheriff’s officials have declined to discuss whether that is the case.

In a hearing Wednesday before Commissioner Palk, county attorneys argued vigorously that they see no need for granting the city a change of venue.

“What they’re showing,” Deputy County Counsel Edward N. Duran said, motioning to his adversaries, “is that they have no confidence in the judiciary in the county.”

Palk also appeared at first to be skeptical. She said she had found no cases in which the plaintiff in a civil suit had sought a change in venue, only defendants. And she pressed for evidence that the city could not get a fair trial in the county.

“If the purpose here is to avoid local prejudice, where’s the local prejudice?” she asked.

Willis could offer no evidence of bias toward the case in county courts, but he said jails are a “very sensitive issue” in the county.

“There’s a feeling that it would be better to depoliticize this and have it go through a neutral judge,” he said.

The state Civil Code gives any litigant in a suit with a governmental body the right to demand a change of venue, so Willis said Palk had no choice under the law but to side with the city.

Palk ultimately agreed and granted the change of venue, meaning that Orange County Superior Court will no longer have jurisdiction in the suit.

The site of the trial will be determined later. The state Judicial Council must first assign a non-county judge to hear the case, then a decision will be made on the locale in consultation with all the parties, court officials said.

Deputy County Counsel David R. Chaffee said that he is not certain how much the change of venue will cost but that he considers it a waste of money.

But he praised Palk for her handling of the motion. “To her credit,” he said, “she tried very hard to oppose this, as far as we’re concerned, and as far as the taxpayers should be concerned.”

Supervisor Don R. Roth, who represents the city and has been the only board member to oppose the current jail expansion plan, called the ruling a key win for the proposal’s critics.

Without a change of venue, Roth said, “you’re taking on the county of Orange in their own courtroom, so this was a very wise move.”