NOW WHAT? Overcrowding of the county’s jail...

NOW WHAT? Overcrowding of the county’s jail system is so critical that “I don’t know where we can go from here,” says Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt. . . . A federal court banned additional prisoners in the central jail, forcing inmates to other facilities. At the honor farm, inmates sleep in tents. Many are released without bail, some go free before their sentences are up, and 700 are furloughed to jobs. . . . What’s next? “Eventually we’ll have to release more serious people,” Hewitt says.

OVERCROWDED O.C. JAILS

Every county facility has more inmates than authorized by the state. Each exceeds the state’s limit by the following number of prisoners.

Central Woman’s Jail: 88

Theo Lacy Jail: 186

Intake Release Center: 216

Central Men’s Jail: 222

James Musick Jail: 543

Source: Orange County Sheriff