County Counsel to Study Whether to Appeal Sheriff’s Jail Sentence

Orange County supervisors directed their attorney Tuesday to investigate whether to appeal a 30-day jail sentence handed down last week against Sheriff Brad Gates.

“The board has asked county counsel to evaluate any and all options available to the county, including but not limited to a legal appeal,” Board Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez said. “Counsel will not act on any option until after he has consulted with the sheriff.”

Gates was out of town Tuesday and unavailable for comment.

The board’s session came as county officials are scrambling to react to a sentence handed down by Municipal Judge Richard W. Stanford last Friday. Stanford, who held Gates in contempt of court for releasing 17 prisoners from jail prematurely during recent years, ordered him to pay a $17,000 fine and spend 30 days in jail unless the county produces a plan by Nov. 1 that will stop the releases.

The Sheriff’s Department, which operates jails that were built to hold 3,203 prisoners but that typically house about 4,400, releases roughly 850 prisoners a week to make room for more serious offenders.

Most of those releases are legal, but Stanford found that several violated state law.

Supervisors have expressed frustration and confusion over Stanford’s ruling, especially since the county expects to have several hundred more jail beds on line by Jan. 1. At that point, the county hopes to have enough beds to prevent any more premature releases, but Stanford insisted that the county must move more quickly and set the Nov. 1 deadline.

One option under consideration in case an appeal fails, officials said, is to speed up work on the Theo Lacy Branch Jail expansion and have the first phase of it ready by Nov. 1. Board members were told in their closed session, however, that such a move would cost $900,000 in additional staff time.

That would mean cutting other county programs and possibly laying off workers to satisfy the judge. County supervisors, while acknowledging that they may end up having to take that step, said they were determined only to do it as a last resort.

Supervisor Don R. Roth added that he would like to see the county open Theo Lacy early but pay for it by postponing the opening of a new court facility.

“The judge should be happy,” Roth said, adding that the county administrative office was directed to study the idea and report back as soon as possible.

A final decision on accelerating the Theo Lacy work has not been reached, Vasquez said, though board members could consider that idea when they take up the county budget on Aug. 27.