Gates reduced the population at the main jail immediately after the March 18 court order by refusing to keep federal and state prisoners for more than a day or two. He also encouraged police agencies in the county to carefully screen the arrestees they were sending to the jail.
Two weeks ago, Gates transferred some inmates to Musick from Lacy, neither of which were at capacity. That allowed him to move nearly 100 inmates from the main jail to Lacy.
The 67 new workers at Musick will cost about $2.2 million annually, said Norb Puff, the senior analyst in charge of jail matters for the county administrative office.
Puff said the money would come from an additional $5 million the supervisors will be asked to budget in the fiscal year starting July 1 to cover the cost of complying with Gray's order.
57 New Workers
The same fund will pay $919,699 approved by the supervisors for the hiring of 57 new workers for Lacy.
A month after Gray's March 18 order, the supervisors set up a $3-million account, fed by contingency funds, to pay fines imposed and provide money for other solutions to the overcrowding problem.
Puff said the $3-million fund paid for the trailerlike units to be used at Musick, which will cost $1.6 million, plus an additional $500,000 to install them. He said it cost about $340,000 for a four-month lease of the tents erected Tuesday as immediate temporary housing.
In addition, the supervisors approved spending $138,000 for 240 three-tier bunks for the main jail. While Gray has approved the use of tents for housing inmates, he has not yet given approval for the triple bunks.
Gates said Tuesday that even after the more permanent trailerlike units are installed, he will probably keep two of the tents in operation for emergency situations.
