Gates Says He Uses Honor Farm to Pare Main Jail Population

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates said Thursday that he reluctantly has begun sending inmates awaiting trial to the honor farm near El Toro under court pressure to make room for more misdemeanor inmates at the overcrowded County Jail.

But Gates, whose office runs the jail, warned that “I still won’t be able to fully comply” with an order by Central Orange County Municipal Judge Gary P. Ryan that Gates stop refusing to incarcerate people arrested on misdemeanor arrest and bench warrants.

Ryan found Gates in contempt of court last month for turning those charged with misdemeanors away from the jail, instead giving them citations to appear in court, in the face of Ryan’s warning that such a policy was in violation of state law. Gates said it was the only way he could live within the jail-population limits set by U.S. District Judge William P. Gray.

Ryan ordered the sheriff to return to his court June 1 with two things: evidence that Gates had reiterated to the Board of Supervisors the county’s need for more jail beds and a plan to begin incarcerating people brought to the jail on bench and arrest warrants.

Gates at first ordered his attorneys to fight Ryan’s contempt order. But earlier this week he asked Deputy County Counsel Edward N. Duran to drop the contempt defense.

“After the attorneys laid out our options, I decided we wouldn’t gain anything,” Gates said Thursday. “I decided to go back to court on June 1 and respond to Judge Ryan’s two requests as best we can and allow him to do what he feels is appropriate.”

In the past, the James A. Musick honor farm near El Toro has been reserved for sentenced inmates who meet the jail system’s lowest security-risk classification. Jail officials say one reason inmates awaiting trial have not been sent there is the difficulty involved in transporting them back and forth from court in downtown Santa Ana.

“We’re only going to send to Musick inmates we have carefully screened as low risk and, as best we can, inmates who are not facing immediate court appearances,” Gates said Thursday.

But the sheriff added that he didn’t like it.

“I don’t think you would find a law enforcement administrator in America who would take these steps if he had adequate facilities,” Gates said.

Two years ago, Judge Gray found Gates in contempt of court for ignoring a federal court order intended to reduce overcrowding at the main men’s jail in Santa Ana.

Since then, the jail population has been closely monitored by the court.

Gates has said he discovered a year ago that he could not live within the federal court population ceiling at the main men’s jail--1,291 on the housing floors--without turning away some misdemeanor inmates.

He started by turning away some people brought to the jail on minor misdemeanor arrests, issuing them citations to appear in court instead. But by October, he had widened his policy to cover people arrested on warrants as well. That upset the judges, who generally issue bench warrants only when a person charged with a crime has failed to show up in court as ordered.

Ryan warned Gates in a letter on March 5 that he was in danger of being found in contempt of court.

Gates said Thursday that the warrant arrests in question are running as high as 40 to 50 a day. Another 50 to 100 people are being turned away from the jail with citations after being arrested for minor misdemeanors without warrants.

“During the week, when we have a few empty beds at Musick, I’ll probably be able to comply with (Ryan’s) order,” Gates said. “But on weekends we’re usually full. We just won’t have the beds to do it.”

Gates has asked the Board of Supervisors several times in the past 13 months for 300 more maximum-security and 300 more minimum-security beds for his jail system.

When Gates recently repeated his request to the supervisors for more beds immediately, their answer was to ask for an inmate classification study by Lawrence G. Grossman, the special master placed at the jail by Judge Gray. Grossman also has been employed by the county as a paid jail consultant.

Grossman concluded that the only immediate solution was to begin sending inmates awaiting trial to Musick. He laid out guidelines for how to select these inmates.

Gates said Thursday that the classification changes he has made are essentially the same as Grossman recommended.

The pretrial inmates now going to Musick will not come from the main jail. They will come from the Theo Lacy branch jail in Orange. Inmates would be sent in turn from the main men’s jail in Santa Ana to Theo Lacy.

“Any time you alter your classification system, it becomes risky,” Gates said. “We’re just going to do the best we can.”

Gates’ attorneys had expected to fight Ryan’s contempt order in federal court. But Gates said Thursday he did not think Gray would overturn Ryan’s order.

“I feel we should go back to Judge Ryan and say, ‘Now, it’s up to you and the system to make another decision,’ ” Sheriff Gates declared. “We can only do so much.”