O.C. JAIL CROWDING LEADS U.S.

Jammed local lockups are forced to release thousands of inmates early.
Hundreds are soon charged in new crimes.

Orange County has the most overcrowded jails among the 25 largest county
systems in the nation, resulting in the early release of criminals, who
sometimes are quickly arrested again for new offenses.

A Sheriff's Department study shows that among 19,017 inmates given early
release last year - ranging in length from a few days to more than a month
- - 658 were rearrested on new charges during the time they would have ben
behind bars if they had served their full terms. Forty-three percent of the
repeaters were charged with felonies.

"We don't know how many crimes these people committed before they were
rearrested," Assistant Sheriff Rocky Hewitt said.

The five-jail system run by the Sheriff's Department is at 140 percent of
its capacity, cramming a daily average of 5,368 inmates into what was
designed to hold 3,821.

That exceeds the packed conditions in jails in New York City and Los
Angeles County, and significantly outstrips the next most overcrowded jail
system, in Atlanta's Fulton County, which is at 133 percent of its
capacity, figures from the U.S. Justice Department show.

Orange County has had the most overcrowded county jail system for the past
two years.

Attempts to ease the overcrowding by building new jails have been thwarted
by a lack of money exacerbated by the county's bankruptcy, and squabbles
over where to build new lockups.

A proposal to build a 7,500-bed jail at the site of the James A. Musick
honor ranch near Irvine and Lake Forest has met with stiff community
opposition.

A lawsuit has ground the Musick planning process to a near halt.