Board Votes to Open Jail Wing at Last

The county Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to open a 166-bed wing of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail that has sat empty for nearly two years because the bankrupt county could not afford to hire additional guards.

At the same time, however, the board postponed a decision to study a major expansion of a South County jail wedged between Irvine and Lake Forest so that county officials can first meet with anxious leaders of those communities.

Both projects are designed to relieve jail overcrowding that forced the early release of roughly 1,000 inmates every month last year.

The Sheriff’s Department said the new Theo Lacy wing, which was about to open when the county went bankrupt in December 1994, should be ready to house inmates within four months and will make a small but meaningful dent in the overcrowding problem. The 166 beds will increase overall jail capacity by about 3%.

The opening also has symbolic value, because the empty beds are frequently cited as examples of how the bankruptcy has impacted county services.

But Sheriff’s Department officials said the county needs 4,000 additional beds if it hopes to significantly cut the number of early releases.

“Any increase is important,” Lt. Ron Wilkerson said. “But we have to keep in mind what the overall problem is.”

Sheriff Brad Gates wants the county to order an environmental impact report on a plan to convert the minimum-security James A. Musick Branch Jail--bordered by Irvine, Lake Forest and the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station--into a full-scale facility that could house thousands of maximum-security inmates.

Officials of those cities, as well as residents who live near the jail, have expressed doubts about the plan and urged the board to delay action until they could discuss the scope of the environmental impact study with county officials.

“I think it’s imperative that the community has a voice in this process,” said Supervisor Marian Bergeson, who represents the area and pushed for the postponement. “They need to be informed about what’s going on.”

The board is expected to eventually approve the study, but Bergeson said she would like the report to also focus on other potential jail sites around the county.

By examining alternative jail locations, the consultant preparing the study will be able to compare the costs and impacts of a Musick expansion against other options for adding jail beds, she said.

The 100-acre Musick facility now operates as a minimum-security camp where some inmates live in tents and harvest vegetables from a farm. Officials beefed up security last year after several inmates roamed off the site in an unincorporated area and into nearby residential neighborhoods.

In addition to the Musick expansion, Gates has also discussed the possibility of building a jail at the adjoining El Toro base once it closes in 1999.

But funding has not been secured for either idea. If jail money becomes available, the county’s first priority is to proceed with a planned 1,600-bed expansion of the Theo Lacy Branch Jail, which is on The City Drive in Orange.

Officials said the county could receive as much as $70 million if a $2.2-billion prison and jail construction measure is placed on the November ballot and approved by voters. Such a windfall should be able to cover the Theo Lacy expansion and perhaps help pay for other projects as well.

The opening of the 166-bed Theo Lacy wing is being funded with $2.6 million in revenues from Proposition 172, a voter-approved ballot measure that imposed an additional half-cent sales tax statewide for law enforcement agencies.

County officials credited the Sheriff’s Department’s tight financial controls for helping to accumulate the money needed to hire the 33 deputies and civilian workers who will run the wing.

“Today’s action is long overdue and is a small step toward relieving jail overcrowding,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said. “When we planned this [wing], we expected . . . it to be [operational] and not just sitting there empty.”

In other action Tuesday, the board agreed to pay the legal bills for three county officials who hired lawyers during bankruptcy-related investigations by the Orange County Grand Jury and district attorney’s office.

The bills include $24,000 for former county Finance Director Eileen T. Walsh, $10,600 for former County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider and $6,991 for Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis.