The Lake Forest City Council will soon be voting on an agreement that would increase the number of inmates housed at an Orange County jail, resulting from the state's prison realignment program. The Orange County Register reported the agreement would be between the Orange County Sheriff's Department and other county officials, and would allow the inmate population at the James. A. Musick jail to increase from 1,250 to 3,100.

By approving the deal, the city would be allowing the county sheriff's department to increase the inmate population even more if authorities were able to demonstrate the need for more jail space or if state or federal mandates required them to, the article stated. Approval of the agreement also would mean the city is supporting the county's master plan for the jail and cannot sue the sheriff's department of the county if the terms of the agreement are upheld, the article stated.

Rick Dostal, executive director of administration services for the Orange County Sheriff's Department, told the Register the push to allow more inmates at the Musick facility is driven by prison realignment, which has transferred low-risk offenders from state-run prisons to local county jails since the program took effect in October 2011.

If all parties agree on increasing the jail's population, 512 beds will be added to the facility, the Register reported, and construction work to expand the space would take up to five years to complete. In all, the facility could add 1,850 beds, but Dostal told the news source it could take "decades" before the jail reaches that number.

The agreement also means high risk offenders would be kept out of the Musick jail, which Lake Forest Mayor Kathryn McCullough has said has restricted growth at the facility in the past, according to the Register.

Both male and female inmates are housed at the Musick jail, according to the sheriff's department website. It is classified as a minimum security facility and is located in an unincorporated area between Lake Forest and Irvine. Most inmates at the jail have been arrested for driving under the influence, minor drug possession, burglary, failing to pay child support or for prostitution. Offenders convicted of violent or sexual crimes cannot be transferred or kept at the facility.