Sheriff Steps Up Plans to Enlarge Jail
LAKE FOREST — Orange County Sheriff Michael S. Carona said Thursday that a proposed initiative aimed mainly at killing the planned airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is forcing him to step up plans to enlarge a County Jail facility in Lake Forest.
Carona said he has no choice but to move ahead on a project to expand the James A. Musick Jail from 1,100 to 7,584 beds because passage of the initiative would make approving any new jail sites practically impossible.
“They may have pushed me into building Musick and we’ll have to do it now,” Carona said. “It’s either [new] jail beds or prisoners released on the streets. I can’t take a chance that I won’t have a place to build a jail.”
The initiative would require a two-thirds vote of the public for any new or expanded airports, jails or hazardous-waste landfills. Specifically, any jail expansion of 1,000 beds within half a mile of 100 or more homes would require voter approval.
A recent county report showed the jail system needs 5,000 additional beds.
Carona said he has given county attorneys approval to complete environmental work on the expansion while he analyzes the possible impact of the initiative.
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