Local News in Brief : Countywide : Supervisors Vote Report on Anaheim Jail Plan

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted to prepare an environmental impact report for a proposed branch jail near Anaheim Stadium, even though most county officials don’t expect that it will ever be built.

The supervisors say they are keeping their plans for the so-called Katella-Douglass jail alive in case some of their other jail plans fall through. The board’s vote was 4 to 1, with Supervisor Don R. Roth--who represents Anaheim--dissenting.

“I consider the expense of funds at this time to be inappropriate,” Roth said, referring to a budget deficit the county is working to overcome.

The work on the environmental impact report is expected to cost about $60,000.

Earlier this year, an environmental impact report done for the jail site was dismissed by a Superior Court judge as inadequate during a lawsuit filed by the city of Anaheim. The judge said the county could proceed with its plans only if it expanded the environmental impact report.

Plans for the jail anticipate that it will cost at least $140 million and will hold about 1,500 inmates. But the county has no idea where it will get the construction money, and local state legislators have succeeded in prohibiting the use of any state money for the project.