Countywide : Sheriff Releases 139 to Ease Jail Crowding

Acting on authorization of an Orange County Superior Court judge, Sheriff Brad Gates released 139 inmates Thursday and Friday from county jail facilities to ease overcrowding.

Gates and county officials are under a federal court order to keep the main jail’s population below 1,500 inmates, and to reduce it further to 1,400 by April 1.

As of 1 p.m. Friday, the inmate population of the main jail facility located at 550 N. Flower St., Santa Ana, was 1,398, an increase of 35 despite the early releases, Sheriff’s Department spokesman Lt. Richard Olson said.

Only 27 of those released early from their sentences were from the main jail, according to a sheriff’s spokesman. There also were 27 inmates released from the Theo Lacy branch jail and another 85 inmates released from the James A. Musick branch jail, where they were being held in tents.

“Although conditions in the tents have been acceptable,” Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Olson said, “the current inclement weather was a consideration in reducing the tent population.”

The tents are court-approved temporary facilities to help ease overcrowding.

Olson said he was unable to determine Friday what types of crimes the 139 inmates had been sentenced for, but that under the court authorization prisoners may not be released more than five days early or for more than 10% of their sentences.

On March 7, Presiding Judge Everett W. Dickey authorized Gates to release “any particular inmate” up to five days early “if necessary to balance the inmate count and the actual bed capacity.” Dickey’s order was based on an obscure, seldom invoked section of the Penal Code.

Dickey’s order lasts only 30 days. The action came in response to a March 4 order by U.S. District Judge William Gray, who has summoned Gates back to federal court to explain why he violated the judge’s previous order prohibiting overcrowding at the main jail. Gates is due to appear at a March 20 hearing.