Monitor Urges County Action on Gypsum Canyon Jail : Public safety: His report says that it is the ‘only reasonable alternative’ in the face of a crisis brought on by overcrowding.

SANTA ANA —  Orange County jail overcrowding has reached a crisis, and the Board of Supervisors should immediately move forward with plans to build a massive and controversial new facility in Gypsum Canyon, a federally appointed monitor has concluded.

“Although I am not advocating where the county should put the jail,” monitor Lawrence Grossman wrote in an eight-page report sent to the county Monday, “because of the present crisis, the county’s only reasonable alternative is to build a jail in Gypsum Canyon. Time is money, and time is safety for the public. The authorities should begin at once to negotiate to acquire the Gypsum Canyon site.”

Grossman’s report--ordered in October by a federal judge--also dismisses a Riverside County desert jail advocated by Supervisor Don R. Roth, saying that while studying that option was worthwhile, the costs of operating such a facility would be “astronomical.”

The desert jail had emerged in recent months as the only serious contender to Gypsum Canyon. But the new report, combined with other studies casting doubt on the facility, is likely to seal that debate and refocus attention on the canyon, located just east of Anaheim.

The canyon site is vehemently opposed by Anaheim and Yorba Linda residents and officials and has been the focus of more than three years of bitter debate among county board members. Supervisors Thomas F. Riley, Roger R. Stanton and Harriett M. Wieder support building in Gypsum Canyon, while Roth and Gaddi H. Vasquez oppose it. But with four votes needed before the land can be obtained through condemnation, the board has stood deadlocked while the overcrowding crisis grows.

Grossman’s report, however, comes just two weeks before the supervisors are scheduled to take up Gypsum Canyon again, and it is likely to add considerably to the pressure on reluctant board members.

“The county has now exhausted all stop-gap measures,” Grossman wrote in his cover letter. “It is time to construct new jail beds without further delay.”

Supporters of the canyon jail enthusiastically welcomed Grossman’s findings, saying it has delivered a powerful and informed endorsement of Gypsum Canyon. They conceded that significant hurdles remain--the issue of how to pay for the $1-billion-plus facility, for instance, is still unresolved--but said the report will help push the county forward.

“I welcome this report,” Wieder said. “The thrust of it is to charge ahead and make some progress in dealing with this important issue.”

Sheriff Brad Gates, another longtime Gypsum Canyon supporter, agreed.

“The bottom line of the report is that the next step needs to be taken,” Gates said. “The next step for the public safety of this county is to build Gypsum Canyon. I think the report makes that clear.”

In addition to discussing Gypsum Canyon, the report--which was based on extensive interviews with supervisors, Sheriff’s Department officials and visits to the county jails--also:

* Documents the extent of the overcrowding crisis, finding that the county’s five jails held 1,255 more prisoners than they were built to house. More than 800 of those prisoners sleep in military-style tents that were only meant as a temporary measure;

* Notes that Municipal Court judges have become increasingly frustrated with the early-release programs undertaken by the sheriff to hold down overcrowding. Those programs put thousands of accused and convicted criminals back onto the street every year because the county has no beds to hold them;

* States that the Sheriff’s Department is finding it increasingly difficult to process new inmates into the system within 24 hours of their arrest, a limit set by a federal judge.

“The majority of bookings are completed in four to 12 hours, depending on the influx of prisoners at one time,” the report notes. “However, due to the scarcity of beds in all facilities, prisoners are often held in holding cells for up to 20 hours.”

Grossman declined to comment on the report’s findings. He said he preferred to wait until U.S. District Judge William P. Gray, who has long overseen jail-overcrowding issues in Orange County, has had a chance to review the report. When lawyers for inmates sued the county in 1976, the judge imposed a prisoner limit on the Central Men’s Jail in Santa Ana.

Prompted by reports of a mounting overcrowding crisis in the county jail system, Gray in October ordered Grossman to inspect the jails and deliver his findings.

County officials have interpreted that to mean that Gray is preparing to impose new limits on the jail system. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the judge to do just that, requesting last month that he cap the population in the housing units of all five county jails.

On Dec. 18, the supervisors will take up the matter of Gypsum Canyon again. The county staff is recommending that the supervisors reaffirm their support for Gypsum Canyon at that session, while also suggesting that the board vote to develop financial plans for building the new facility.

In addition, Gypsum Canyon supporters are angling for a vote to direct County Administrative Officer Ernie Schneider to begin negotiations with the Irvine Co. to buy the land for the jail. The company now plans to build homes in Gypsum Canyon.