Keep Bailing

The Orange County Register Tuesday reported that the County Board of Supervisors has approved a plan to add 512 beds to the James A. Musick jail. This decision, the OCR said, paves the way for Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens to apply for a $100 million state grant. The county will not know whether they will receive the grant funding until early 2013.  Construction, if approved, would not reach completion until 2018.

Although a number of residents have voiced opposition to the plan Sheriff’s officials maintain that the facility will “continue to house minimum security inmates” only.   The expansion is needed, they said, due to the state’s prison realignment program.  Proponents of the plan have pointed out that Orange County jails received close to 300 new inmates during the first month of implementation alone.

Eventually, plans for the facility would include expanding the 1,250-bed facility to 7,500 beds.  The cost to operate the expanded facility would be approximately $28 million per year.  Sources within the Sheriff’s Department said that funding sources Read more »

It has been barely 60 days since California began shifting prisoners from state to county jails. A number of counties have already begun feeling the pinch of increase capacity, wondering how long it will take before what remaining beds they have are filled.

The Mercury News has reported that state corrections officials are saying that although they are receiving more prisoners than initially expected that it’s still too soon to panic.

Los Angeles and Riverside County jails initially believed they could reach capacity by the close of 2011.  Spokespeople from both counties have since delayed the timeline.  Still, LA County Sheriffs officials are considering releasing less-serious offenders early with the stipulation that they continue to be monitored with GPS-ankle bracelets.

Orange County Jail officials have said that “more than 60 detainees had to sleep on the jail floor until beds could be made available”.    Fresno County Jail has recently said they will no longer detain parole violators for minor infractions. Those who have been caught committing new crimes could be readmitted.

Reportedly judges are no longer permitted to send Read more »

County officials throughout the state are voicing concern that their jails may soon reach capacity. Los Angeles County, Orange County, Riverside County and Kern County are all in dire situations.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that approximately 30,000 inmates being housed at state facilities would need to be transferred to county prisons as a means of reducing overcrowding, reports NBC Los Angeles.  Last it was reported that Los Angeles County Jails could run out of room before the close of the year.  Riverside County has reported that they too are quickly running out of bed space and that county jails could reach capacity by January. At current, the Riverside County Jail is at 93% capacity.

Orange County Assistant Sheriff Mike James said that Read more »

Five Orange County jail inmates have been convicted of second-degree murder after being found guilty of beating a fellow inmate to death at the Theo Lacy Jail.

The 2006 beating reportedly occurred because the defendants believed the inmate to be a child molester. Jurors found Garret Eugene Aguilar, Stephen Paul Carlstrom, Jared Louis Petrovich, Miguel Angel Guillen, and Raul Villafana,  guilty of the crime.  They all face 15 years to life.

“A grand jury probe concluded that the beating death grew out of an institutional culture that allowed inmates to run the jails while deputies watched television and slept at times,” wrote OC City News Service reporter Paul Anderson. “[Former OC Sheriff's deputy Kevin Taylor] has been accused of watching ‘Cops’ and text-messaging during the beating, just about 68-feet away from the blind spot at the jail.” Prosecutors issued a scathing report on Read more »

The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered California to reduce its prison population without delay, and because of that, a number of state inmates will be transferred from the state prison system to local governments.

In essence, this means that non-violent, non-sexual and non-serious offenders will serve out the remaining years of their sentences in County prisons.  Because of this legislative change, say local law enforcement officials, Orange County Jails are expected to see an additional 1,460 inmates in the upcoming year.

In Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds’ newest edition of Inside the Jail, we discuss the Impact of Realignment on Orange County Jails including the Santa Ana jail and Theo Lacy jail.

Is there a jail you’d like to know more about? Let us know.  We’ll get you “inside the jail” (or, if you need, we’ll get you out!).

Our California Jails Series Continues… with Orange County’s James Musick Jail

When you think of Orange County Jail perhaps you think of recent headlines about inmate beatings and overcrowding or perhaps you’ve seen explosive television where the OC Sheriff’s Department is working hard to rebuild it’s image only to have the worst happen. In either case, my guess is you don’t think about song and joy.

Greg Rynerson Bail Bonds continues with the fifth in our series on California jails: Inside Orange County James Musick Jail. Musick, Orange County’s Irvine detention facility, gets “rocked” by “Bobby Cash” (aka Read more »

In Santa Ana, California, the trail has begun for five inmates who were accused of brutally beating another inmate to death. Claims have been made by the defense lawyers that the guards allowed it to transpire. Each defendant is charged with first-degree murder.

John Chamberlain was incarcerated for a misdemeanor. His murder took place at the Theo Lacy Jail Facility in Orange County. A grand jury investigation was conducted in Chamberlain’s death. The jail was found to have fostered Read more »

Cynthia Cheryl Shirey of Brea was charged with multiple felony counts on Friday, including violating bail license regulations by allowing an unlicensed individual to solicit and negotiate bail bonds on her behalf.

A total of eight co-defendants were charged with 148 counts. Six of those defendants were inmates at the time the alleged scheme occurred, in custody for other crimes they had committed.

Shirey is a licensed bail bond agent with Plotkin Bail Bonds located in Santa Ana. Reportedly, she worked there with Ernesto Perez, who is not a licensed bail bondsman. According to the Orange County District Attorney, Shirey and Perez worked together soliciting inmates in jail through other inmates.

If found guilty on all charges, Shirey will be looking at a maximum sentence of 23 years in state prison. She was being held on a $20,000 bail, which she was expected to post on Friday afternoon.

Each of the eight defendants were connected to this scheme while the Orange County Sheriff’s Department conducted an 18-month investigation.

“The illegal soliciting of inmates by unscrupulous bail bond agents will not be tolerated in our facilities,” said Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

During the time period from August 5, 2010 to March 15, Perez is believed to have plotted with the six incarcerated defendants at the Orange County Jail to solicit other inmates and have them contact him to post their bail.

According to prosecutors, the plan worked like this: Perez worked Read more »

Prosecutors are charging a man who has been acting as a bail bondman without a license for soliciting inmates at the Orange County Jail.

On Thursday, Ernesto Perez, 36, of Burbank, reportedly pleaded not guilty to 16 felony charges of identity theft and 21 felony charges of negotiating bail without a proper license. If Perez is convicted, he will face a maximum sentence of 27 years in a state prison. His bail has been set at $150,000.

California Law strictly prohibits any bail negotiations unless Read more »

After several months of debate, Orange County jails are now ready to accept suspects of illegal immigration in the United States.

It is said, that by mid-October, Theo Lacy jail facility will house up to 840 immigrant detainees. Upon agreement, Orange County is a necessary place to hold this inmate type in contract with ICE officials.

The Sheriff’s Department made this deal with Read more »