COUNTYWIDE : State Senate Panel Approves Bill on Jail
A bill in the Legislature aimed at breaking a political deadlock on the Board of Supervisors over a new county jail cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 6-3 vote Tuesday.
The measure, sponsored by Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), would reduce the majority needed for the five-member board to condemn land, presumably in Gypsum Canyon, for a proposed new county jail.
Instead of the current four-vote requirement for condemnation, the bill would allow a simple three-vote majority to begin eminent domain proceedings for a new detention facility.
Umberg’s measure has already passed the full Assembly and will now go to the Senate floor; if passed, it would then advance to the governor’s office.
Umberg said he is sponsoring the bill to get the jail project off political dead center. He said the county is under court order to release criminals from crowded Orange County Jail in Santa Ana, while the board is deadlocked, 3 to 2--one vote short of condemning a new jail site in Gypsum Canyon, which is owned by the Irvine Co.
Canyon jail foes have mounted their own campaign. Anaheim wants to annex the canyon and allow an Irvine Co. housing development there.
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