ORANGE

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is considering building a maximum-security jail in the sphere of influence of Orange, according to Mayor Joanne Coontz. “We were not apprised of this, but we should be the first people this was discussed with,” said Coontz, who learned of the issue early this week.

“There has been no decisions made by anybody on any site,” said Sheriff Mike Carona, who is on the search committee to locate a site for a new jail. “No one was consulted because we are still in the discussion stage.”

The jail was originally slated to be built in Irvine, but the Sheriff’s Department is now looking at several unincorporated sites next to the Eastern toll road and north of Irvine. The cities of Lake Forest and Irvine sued the county for proposing to build a jail near homes and businesses.

Carona confirmed that at least one of the potential sites is in the sphere of influence of Orange. He added that the committee has been looking for a site for more than 13 months and will consider a number of criteria before it seriously narrows in on one, including the size of the land, its proximity to homes and whether there are existing correctional facilities in the area.

The City Council is holding a public hearing on the issue today at 4 p.m. at City Hall, 300 E. Chapman Ave.