Sheriff Lee Baca wants the county to tear down Men’s Central Jail, the hub of Los Angeles County’s overcrowded and violence-plagued jail system, and build a state-of-the-art facility in its place reports the Los Angeles Times.

Baca conceded that his idea faces long odds because of its steep price tag — he said it could cost between $500 million and $800 million — and is just one among several proposals the county is considering as ways to upgrade and expand the nation’s largest jail system.

There is little indication that the county Board of Supervisors will agree to undertaking such an expensive project, but Baca said he still believes the county needs a new central jail.

Since it opened just east of downtown 44 years ago, Men’s Central Jail has been the scene of many of the jail system’s most disturbing incidents, including nine inmate homicides in the last seven years. In 2004, an inmate roamed the jail unsupervised for hours before tracking down and killing an inmate who had testified against him.

Read it here: L.A. County Sheriff wants a New Jail