Appeals Court OKs Plan for New Orange County Jail
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An appeals court Friday cleared the way for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to build what would be the county’s largest jail, close to a residential area near Lake Forest.
The ruling removes a major barrier in the decade-long effort to expand the James A. Musick Branch Jail and ease the crowding that has plagued the Orange County jails.
Rejecting a legal challenge filed by south Orange County cities, the court unanimously threw out a judge’s earlier ruling that the county had failed to examine how the expansion would affect nearby homes and businesses.
The appeals court also gave a boost to backers of a compromise that calls for up to 4,440 low-security beds at the facility.
Current expansion plans would allow the Sheriff’s Department to house up to 7,968 maximum-security inmates at Musick.
The compromise, approved this week by Lake Forest and county supervisors, comes before the Irvine City Council on Tuesday.
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