The state is accepting bids for a new 1,100-plus bed death row facility. It’s another step being taken to ease prison over-population.

But the ‘host’ county isn’t onboard. In fact, they will file for a restraining order to prevent the project from moving forward until pending litigation is settled. The lawsuits contest the legality of Governor Schwarzenegger’s line-item veto.

It’s a public works project expected to cost $358 million and last through 2013. 

From the Marin Independent Journal:

State officials opened bids this week for the first construction phase of a $356 million death row complex at San Quentin State Prison, despite a Marin County lawsuit also filed this week seeking to block the project.

“We’re moving forward with the process,” said George Kostyrko, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The county’s lawsuit filed Tuesday requests a temporary restraining order to prevent the state from “encumbering or expending any funds for the San Quentin Condemned Inmate Complex until this litigation is resolved.”

Read the full article here.