Excessive violence, harsh treatment of mentally ill prisoners and unhealthy living conditions are so widespread in Orange County jails that they violate constitutional norms, according to a report issued Tuesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

The report, based on a two-year investigation by the ACLU that included interviews and reports from 120 recent O.C. inmates and others, also identified a pattern of “denial and indifference” among local jailers, prompting the organization to call for the resignation of Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

“There is a trail of incompetence leading to a mountain of problems, as evidenced by our report,” said Esther Lim, director of the ACLU’s Southern California Jails Project, during a meeting Tuesday with the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

“Despite years of recommendation, Sheriff Hutchens ignored and denied the problems that existed in the jails for years. No more. Sheriff Hutchens needs to resign now.”

“There is a culture of abuse and violence,” within the jails, Lim added.

Hutchens said Tuesday that she does not plan to seek re-election in 2018, but added that criticism from the ACLU and others did not play a role in that decision. Previously, Hutchens has said local jails don’t violate constitutional norms and that deputies do not engage in excessive violence.

The Sheriff’s Dept. described the report as one sided because it gathered information from inmates without talking with deputies and others who work in the jails.

“The report presents a purposely distorted view of the Orange County Jails. The ACLU’s findings are largely based on interviews and surveys of former inmates. While inmates certainly have a perspective to offer on our jail system, the failure to include the perspective of law enforcement has resulted in a report that only tells one side of the story,” said Lt. Lane Lagaret, a department spokesman.

A leader of the deputies’ union noted that because of changes in the state prison system, the people held in O.C. jails increasingly are hardened criminals with longer histories of violence.

“While we realize that the ACLU is entitled to their opinion and perception of the jail conditions, we do not agree with many of the characterizations portrayed by the inmates interviewed for the report,” said Tom Dominguez, head of the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, in a prepared statement.

“Our deputies will continue to do the professional job that the taxpayers expect of them. We are not troubled by the ACLU or any other organization scrutinizing our jails…. We welcome the scrutiny.”

The ACLU report also called for the Board of Supervisors to establish an independent citizen panel to oversee conditions in local jails, a step taken in some other jurisdictions. Two years ago, officials in Los Angeles agreed to federal oversight of LA County Men’s Jail, a response to complaints filed by, among others, the ACLU.

Some of the report’s specific allegations in Orange County mirror problems reported in Los Angeles, including:

• Excessive use of force by deputies against inmates.

• Deputies pitting inmates against each other to encourage violence.

• Ignoring inmate complaints.

• Housing inmates in unsanitary and unsafe conditions.

• Denying adequate health care.

The ACLU report noted that its findings are consistent with reports from other agencies that have criticized the Sheriff’s Dept. for the conditions and treatment within the county’s five jails.

In 2014, after six years of investigation in local jails, the Dept. of Justice wrote a letter that criticized use of force, crowded conditions, supervision practices, medical care, and mental health care within Orange County jails. That investigation, which remains open, was prompted by the death of Derek Chamberlain, a 41-year-old Mission Viejo man who was fatally beaten in 2006 by inmates in Orange County jail who wrongfully thought Chamberlain was a child molester. A lawsuit later alleged that a deputy didn’t respond to the fight while he watched a baseball game on television, and the suit resulted in the county paying $600,000 to Chamberlain’s family. A grand jury report later concluded that lax oversight by jailers contributed to Chamberlain’s death.

The ACLU report also referenced a pending lawsuit filed by the Association of Orange County Deputies Union alleging that staff reductions have led to unsafe jail conditions, and detailing a series of critical missteps that contributed to the escape of three inmates from the Central Men’s Jail last year.

The trio was taken into custody following an eight-day manhunt that drew national attention and brought scrutiny on the sheriff’s department. Following the escape, the department has “hardened” the Central Jail, with security upgrades and $570,000 in physical improvements.

The department also faced scrutiny in March when a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General found that immigrant detainees in the Theo Lacy jail were served spoiled lunch meats, forced to use dirty showers and subjected to harsh solitary confinement.

Local defense attorneys offered differing views on the ACLU report, some saying it overstates the violence their clients see in the county’s jails and others saying it mirrors what they’ve seen for some time.

“As much as I would not like to say this, Sandra Hutchens has dramatically reduced the amount of beatings by guards of inmates in the Orange County jails,” said Jerry Steering, a Newport Beach attorney who represented the Chamberlain family.

In Steering’s view, violence in the jails is lower than it’s been in 30 years.

Others disagree, saying violence and other problems highlighted in the ACLU report is routine in local jails.

“Medical care is always an issue, especially for people with serious conditions,” said Michael Guisti, a Garden Grove-based attorney. “Once, I had to intervene with a client who had a medical condition and was told by deputies to drink more water.”

Newport Beach-based defense attorney Kate Corrigan said jail visitors routinely are shocked by the unsanitary conditions in visiting areas, and that visitors typically voice complaints while the inmates keep quiet because they don’t want to raise any issues with staff.

Corrigan said she has concerns about proper mental health care and care for those who are detoxing off drugs or alcohol. While many jailers are respectful, Corrigan added, some jailers do not treat inmates respectfully.

“People who are in jail are at the lowest point in their lives and throwing salt on that wound doesn’t make for a good environment.”