Newsom signs bill requiring Riverside County Sheriff and Coroner offices to be separated

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KESQ) – Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will require the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to separate the offices of county sheriff and coroner by July 1, 2027, as well as establish an independent office of the medical examiner.

The bill, authored by Senator Sabrina Cervantes, also creates clear requirements for the county to publicly report information regarding in-custody deaths on its website.

“Senate Bill 1379—which is a targeted solution to fix a long-broken system in my home county of Riverside—has been a long time coming. The goal of this new law is simple: When an individual dies in custody in a Riverside County jail, their family and the public deserve transparency,” Cervantes explained. “We owe the families the truth; we owe our communities accountability; and we owe county taxpayers a system they can trust.”

“Thank you to Senator Sabrina Cervantes and Governor Gavin Newsom for standing with Riverside County residents by enacting SB 1379. Removing the conflict of interest created when the Sheriff also oversees in-custody death determinations is a significant victory for transparency, accountability, and justice—and a vital step toward supporting families seeking answers after the death of a loved one in custody,” said Chani Beeman, member of the Riverside Sheriff Accountability Coalition. 

According to the Inland Empire Lives Lost report by Care First California, 226 individuals died in custody in Riverside County jails between 2011 and 2022. The group added that during that period, Riverside County accounted for approximately 10 percent of all in-custody deaths in California despite comprising only about 6 percent of the state's population.

In August, a federal jury found Sheriff’s personnel liable in an inmate’s fentanyl death, awarding his family $13.5 million in damages.

In 2024, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously not to separate the coroner's office from the Sheriff's Department. At the time, the Executive Office determined that dividing the coroner's office from the sheriff's department would invite a string of complications, including likely opposition from the nearly 70 coroner's employees -- virtually the entire bureau -- who are unionized and might choose to remain in the sheriff's department, leaving major gaps in coroner's operations that the county would have to rush to fill.

Earlier this month, the Palm Desert City Council also voted to issue a letter opposing the bill, citing legislature already enacted, AB 1108, that will require that determinations of the circumstances, manner, and cause of death for any in-custody death be made independently of the Sheriff-Coroner in every California county with a combined Sheriff-Coroner, including Riverside County. AB 1108 becomes operative on January 1.

"SB 1379 would require Riverside County alone to undertake a much broader structural reorganization only six months after that statewide independent-review requirement becomes operative and before its effectiveness can be evaluated," read city documents.

Palm Desert's letter also emphasizes the importance of preserving local control over the organization of local government.

You can read more about Senate Bill 1379 here.