ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Escaping the Jail Shortage

Now that plans for a sorely needed new jail have been put on hold indefinitely, Orange County must move forward quickly with stopgap measures to address overcrowding. A proposal put forward last week to expand Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange is a good one. The Board of Supervisors should not delay in approving it.

The plan would add 358 beds to the facility by double-bunking cells. This increase at the 808-bed jail would be in addition to an expansion to 1,326 beds that is under way. Also recommended as a longer-term strategy is construction that would add 544 beds at Theo Lacy.

Double-bunking is the cheapest way to increase capacity, costing about $1,360 per bed, while new construction at Theo Lacy would cost about $16,000 per bed. But both alternatives are far cheaper than a new jail, which had been estimated at well over $100,000 per bed.

The need to move ahead with an interim plan stems from the Board of Supervisors’ decision last year to abandon Gypsum Canyon in the Anaheim Hills as its choice for the site of a new $1-billion facility. Confronted with astronomical costs and heavy opposition in the area, the board decided that it would not proceed. By doing so, however, the board walked away from millions of dollars already invested in environmental reviews and plans.

County staff recommended expansion of Theo Lacy as the most logical next step. But even if all the recommended beds were added to Theo Lacy, the county would still be far short of what it needs. Currently, the county houses about 4,400 inmates in a system designed to accommodate 3,208. County studies estimate that the shortage of beds could rise to more than 5,000 by 2007. Because of overcrowding, the county currently operates under a federal court order limiting the number of inmates it can house in its Central Men’s Jail.

The city of Orange is expected to object to expansion of Theo Lacy. But no matter where new jails or expansions are proposed, there will be objections. The future will bring proposals affecting other parts of the county, too. Everybody must cooperate for the county to address its jails crisis successfully.