Inmates May Pick Fruit to Cut Jail’s Costs : Government: The county considers the idea for its new facility near Santa Paula. Labor lawyers fear unfair competition with farm workers.

Prisoners assigned to the new Ventura County jail near Santa Paula may be picking lemons to help cut costs when the lockup opens in 1994, officials said Tuesday.

The county is considering the use of inmate laborers to reduce the annual $10-million operating cost at the 752-inmate facility, which has a 108-acre lemon orchard on the same property, said Sheriff’s Lt. Tom Convery, a member of the jail planning team.

“It is one of the things being discussed,” Convery said. “We haven’t ruled anything in, and we haven’t ruled anything out.”

Convery said a final decision is not likely for several months and will be made only after talks with officials statewide about their inmate programs. Authorities said the program would be voluntary and inmates who participate would earn time off their sentences.

The county could save up to $345,000 a year by harvesting lemons on the property, depending on the price of lemons, said Raymond Ruiz, a county real estate manager.

“It could be greater,” he said. “It could be less.”

The county now leases the lemon orchard to its previous owner, whose lease expires at the end of 1993, Ruiz said. Former owner Mike Brucker could renew his lease for two more years and has informed the county that he wants to exercise that option, Ruiz said.

But Ruiz said the county would lose money if it continues leasing the property instead of harvesting the lemons itself. Brucker could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The $53-million jail is located on a 157-acre orchard a mile west of Santa Paula.

The inmate labor proposal, however, has prompted concern among labor lawyers who fear that the system would create unfair competition for private growers who must pay full labor costs. Some farm workers also may lose their jobs to inmates, officials said.

“It raises a number of issues,” said lawyer Carmen Ramirez of Channel Counties Legal Services, which counsels farm workers. “It would give the county an unfair advantage with private industry.”

By using inmate workers, the county would also be liable for any injuries that the prisoners suffer on the job, Ramirez said.

But Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said he has not heard of any complaints from growers.

“It’s the county’s property,” he said. “They bought and paid for it, so they can do what they want with it.”

The voluntary work program would be similar to one operated for decades at the sheriff’s honor farm in Ojai.

Sgt. Edward Smith, an administrator at the farm, said inmates who pick crops or work at the facility’s pig and cattle operations are not paid, but do earn time off their sentences.

Smith said corn, beans and other crops grown at the farm are used to feed its 140 prisoners. The farm’s pigs and cattle are also eaten by inmates, although some surplus beef is sold to private companies.

Smith said the proceeds go to the county’s general fund.