Not Enough Beds in Jail Deal, Say 2 Supervisors

A compromise plan to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail near Irvine met a cool response Saturday from key county supervisors, who said the proposal doesn’t go far enough to solve the jail system’s chronic overcrowding problem.

Irvine officials signed off on a settlement package Friday, agreeing to end three years of legal wrangling over the facility’s fate in return for a scaled-back expansion plan.

But the deal must win approval from the Board of Supervisors, which has backed a seven-fold expansion of the jail.

While the board has yet to review details of the proposed settlement, Chairman Charles V. Smith and Supervisor Cynthia Coad immediately questioned whether the deal would satisfy the county’s need for 5,100 jail beds over the next decade.

A federal court order mandates that the county relieve its overcrowded jail system, which is among the worst in the nation.

Smith and Coad said Saturday that the scaled-back Musick plan would likely force officials to expand existing facilities or find a new jail site, possibly in North County.

“It doesn’t sound like [the settlement] is going to meet the county’s needs,” Smith said. “It sounds like it would force maximum-security beds into Santa Ana and Orange, and that’s not acceptable to me at all.” Both cities, he noted, are already home to county jails.

The compromise, hammered out by Sheriff Mike Carona and officials from Irvine and Lake Forest, caps Musick at 4,600 minimum- and medium-security inmates and sets up a variety of safeguards designed to protect surrounding areas.

The settlement forbids adding extra beds in the next four years and mandates that expansions be phased in gradually.

By contrast, county plans call for transforming the low-security facility housing 1,256 inmates into a maximum-security detention center holding more than 7,500.

If supervisors add their endorsement, the compromise would clear the way for county officials to eventually add critically needed jail beds at Musick.

The deal could prove a critical coup for Carona, who took office last year on the promise to solve Orange County’s longstanding overcrowding problem.

Carona negotiated for weeks with Irvine leaders to drop their lawsuit over the Musick proposal and endorse the compromise.

The Irvine council did so on a 3-2 vote.

The new deal won the praise of Supervisor Tom Wilson, who represents the South County area.

“Conceptually, it certainly sounds good,” Wilson said. “Musick sits in my district. If the [cities] have worked out something . . . then it would be difficult for me not to support it.”

Wilson said he is optimistic that officials can find a new jail site somewhere in the county that can make up the jail beds lost at Musick under the plan.

A committee of South County officials, together with the sheriff, have spent almost a year examining nearly 60 potential locations.

The committee has pared down the possibilities to four sites, including one at Fremont Canyon, near Orange.

“The city of Orange has more than done its share,” Coad said, noting that the city is home to the Theo Lacy Branch Jail.

“It’s imperative that we have the jail, and we already have a site.”