Supervisors Ask Sheriff for Report

The Board of Supervisors directed the Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday to report back on allegations of potential waste and misspending in its $1.1-billion budget and on the over-detention of more than 500 prisoners in the County Jail system since January 1995.

The actions came in response to recent stories in The Times concerning the Sheriff’s Department’s budget practices and its mistakes in keeping some jail inmates too long.

In its brief discussion, the board also directed the chief administrative office to study the sheriff’s budget practices in response to issues raised in a series in The Times on Sunday and Monday. The board’s brief discussion included no mention of bringing in an outside auditor to review the sheriff’s operation, an idea advocated by some government activists.

Board Chairman Mike Antonovich said he wanted to find out more about several key issues raised in the Times series--including the purchase of high-priced foods for the jail population, the bypassing of the lowest bidders on some contracts, and payments for HBO, video movies and VCRs through an inmate-financed fund.

Antonovich said he was critical of one issue raised in the series, saying he believed that an inmate-run bakery at the Peter Pitchess Honor Rancho in Castaic is “in the best interests of the community,” despite its cost.

Although sheriff’s officials estimate that they could save up to $800,000 a year by buying bread and other items from a vendor instead of using the bakery, Antonovich said it is important for inmates to learn a skill and boost their job prospects. The supervisors also asked for a report next week on the over-detention of more than 500 inmates over the past two years.

Antonovich said in an interview that he was troubled to learn that the Sheriff’s Department--under fire for erroneously releasing 35 inmates from the County Jail since January 1995--has also been mistakenly keeping some inmates behind bars too long.

Sheriff’s officials blame the over-detentions on problems with the jail’s archaic paperwork system.

“Both issues worry me,” Antonovich said. “But with all that good food, they might want to stay in.”

Sheriff’s officials declined comment Tuesday.

Times staff writer Josh Meyer contributed to this story.