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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 …

Authorities are facing rising tensions, violence and the need for additional resources in Orange County jails, as more inmates with lengthier criminal histories serve their sentences at the local facilities as a result of California's prison realignment program. The Orange County Register reported as inmate populations have gone up in the year since the program took effect, violence and surging inmate numbers have created new challenges for authorities.

"The added pressure just kind of keeps that kettle boiling a little bit hotter than it was before," Orange County Sheriff Department Commander Steve Kea told the Register.

Because jail populations have increased, …

The Theo Lacy Jail in Orange County has been named as one of the top 10 worst immigration detention facilities in the country by the Detention Watch Network, the Los Angeles Times reported. The advocacy group is asking President Barack Obama to close the jail run by the Orange County Sheriff's Department, as well as the other 9 facilities on the top-10 list.

Theo Lacy provides inadequate medical care to inmates, as well as poor recreation and nutrition, DWN said. The report also said jail authorities have used racial slurs against inmates, and abused them by kicking their feet in …

A former Orange County Sheriff is asking to be let out of prison early, which would mean cutting his sentence by more than half.

Mike Carona led the Orange County Sheriff's Department for nine years until he was indicted in October 2007 on six felony corruption counts, which included theft of honest services of an elected official and conspiracy and tampering with a witness, the Orange County Register reported. He was found guilty on one of the felony counts in 2009. He began serving his 66-month prison sentence in 2011.

However, now his attorneys are arguing that a new law could …

After being booked into the Santa Ana Jail earlier this month, a man suspected of stabbing his ex-wife has been released by authorities pending further investigation, the Orange County Register reported.

The 74-year-old man, Kenneth Finefield, called 911 and said he found his wife Macaria dead in her bed with a chest stab wound. He was later taken for questioning by the Santa Ana Police Department and then booked into the city jail. He has not been charged with murder, because the Orange County district attorney requested that additional investigation take place, the Register reported. Authorities have not released autopsy …

An 82-year-old woman who has been imprisoned in jails in Orange County and Los Angeles at least nine times over the course of her life was sentenced to six years last month after pleading guilty to seven burglary charges, an LA Times blog stated.

Doris Ann Gamble, who has used 25 different aliases since she first committed crimes in 1955, was sentenced in a Torrance courtroom for her burglaries of doctors' offices in the area. She was arrested in September for taking $400 in cash and checks, $25 worth of stamps, a medical device used to test children's hearing and …

A former Orange County police officer charged with involuntary manslaughter for the beating death of a mentally ill homeless man last year will have a hearing in Orange County November 30, at which a trial date will be scheduled. Joe Wolfe is the third former police officer to be linked to the crime, the Orange County Register reported.

A video of the attack allegedly shows Wolfe as the first officer to strike transient Kelly Thomas, the article stated. Southern California Public Radio Station KPCC reported a total of six police officers beat up the homeless man, who died several days …