The Irvine City Council unanimously voted to support O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes’ decision to not release 50 percent of prisoners within the Orange County jail system. The vote was made during a special meeting on Monday, Dec. 21. With the vote, the council agreed to file an Amicus Brief with the appellate court on Tuesday, Dec. 22.

City of Irvine made the announcement in a Tweet Tuesday morning.

“Yesterday at a special meeting the Irvine City Council unanimously voted to file an amicus brief in response to a Dec. 11 court order that requires an early release of up to 50 percent of the inmates currently held in Orange County jails,” a portion of the Tweet read.

On Dec. 10, a Superior Court Judge ordered O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes to release approximately 1,800 inmates within the county jail system, due to a spike of COVID-19 cases inside the inmate population.

In a formal statement in response to the order, Barnes said he was against the order, emphasizing the release of more than 1,000 inmates would create an environment for potentially dangerous activity, considering the violent nature of those slated for release.

In a Facebook post subsequent the vote Monday, Irvine City Council member Anthony Kuo shared specific insights regarding the reasoning behind the support of O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes’ decision.

https://www.facebook.com/AnthonyKuoIrvine/posts/3477637305665257

“Today, at an emergency meeting, the Irvine City Council voted to file an Amicus Brief in support of O.C. Sheriff Don Barnes’ efforts to keep Orange County safe (Campbell v. Barnes). Last week, a judge ordered the Sheriff’s Department to release roughly 1,800 inmates including Ezra Schley, a man charged in the kidnapping of an Irvine woman and holding her for ransom in 2019,” Kuo wrote.

Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan said she is optimistic that the O.C. Sheriff’s Department can maintain the health and safety of all jail personnel and inmates, by following the science that we trust to protect ourselves from the virus on a daily basis.

“Through social distancing and protective practices that follow CDC, state of California, and Orange County Public Health guidelines, the Sheriff’s Department can protect the health and well-being of theses inmates; keeping them safe from COVID-19 without compromising public safety,” Khan said in a Monday press release.

As of Monday, Dec. 21 the Orange County Sheriff reported 835 current positive cases of COVID-19, with 906 test results pending.

To date, 7,432 inmates have been tested for COVID-19 with a total of 1,521 testing positive, and 5,920 testing negative, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

All COVID-19 cases within county jails are male, no female inmates have tested positive. The Theo Lacy Facility has reported 655 COVID-19 cases. An additional 138 positive COVID-19 cases were reported at Men’s Central Jail, and the county Intake Release center has reported 42 cases.

On Monday, Dec. 21, the Orange County Health Agency reported 3,753 new COVID-19 cases, with two COVID-19 related deaths. As of Dec. 22, Orange County had 1,709 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with 380 in the intensive care unit.

The city of Irvine reported a record-setting 182 new COVID-19 cases on Monday Dec. 21. To date, Irvine has experienced 20 COVID-19 related deaths.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting Irvine Weekly and our advertisers.