Appeals Court OKs Plan for New Orange County Jail
An appeals court Friday cleared the way for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to build what would be the county’s largest jail, close to a residential area near Lake Forest.
The ruling removes a major barrier in the decade-long effort to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail and ease the crowding that has plagued the Orange County jails.
Rejecting a legal challenge filed by south Orange County cities, the court unanimously threw out a judge’s earlier ruling that the county had failed to examine how the expansion would affect nearby homes and businesses.
The appeals court also gave a boost to backers of a compromise that calls for up to 4,440 low-security beds at the facility.
Current expansion plans would allow the Sheriff’s Department to house up to 7,968 maximum-security inmates at Musick.
The compromise, approved this week by Lake Forest and county supervisors, comes before the Irvine City Council on Tuesday.
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