(SACRAMENTO) – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1379 by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside). The new law will require the Riverside County Board of Supervisors to separate the offices of county sheriff and coroner by July 1, 2027, and establish an independent office of the medical examiner. SB 1379 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,” Senator Cervantes explained. “We owe the families the truth; we owe our communities accountability; and we owe county taxpayers a system they can trust.”

In what amounts to a laser-focused rebuke to a Republican sheriff who has dismissed concerns about deaths inside his jails, California’s Democratic leaders have stripped Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco of his duties as coroner.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Wednesday relieving Bianco of his authority to determine the cause and manner of suspicious deaths within his Inland Empire jurisdiction, eight years after his predecessor vetoed similar legislation that would have applied to all of California’s sheriff-coroners.

The California Supreme Court ruled Sheriff Chad Bianco violated the state’s election law when his office seized ballots from the Riverside County registrar. The ruling comes six weeks before the November midterm election that will determine who controls Congress in President Trump’s final two years in office

None of the supervisors offered individual responses to the grand jury, Executive Office or sheriff's reports.

Amid transparency concerns about the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department and growing scrutiny of inmate deaths, the coroner’s office that investigates those deaths could soon become independent of the elected sheriff.

Under legislation passed Tuesday, Aug. 25, by the California Assembly, the county would have a separate medical examiner, not linked to the sheriff, to perform autopsies and rule on the cause and manner of deaths by mid-2027.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors experienced a change of  heart recently and voted in support of an ad hoc committee to study best practices and possible options for stronger oversight of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

This too long delayed action was taken in response to community pressure that seemed to weigh heavier after a recent Civil Grand Jury report laying out in black and white what the community has already laid out in black and white. 

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to create an ad hoc committee to evaluate advisory and oversight options related to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Supervisor Chuck Washington was absent.

As part of the motion, the ad hoc committee, which includes Supervisors Jose Medina and Karen Spiegel, has been charged with coming back to the full board within 180 days with a “well-informed recommendation.”

Amid mounting pressure from a civil grand jury, civil rights groups and families of people who died in Riverside County jails, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved forming a committee to evaluate creating a civilian sheriff’s oversight body.

That pattern is becoming impossible to sustain. Riverside County has drawn from its reserves to balance two consecutive budgets, yet it continues treating preventable deaths and lawsuits as a cost of doing business. Every dollar spent paying for the consequences of a system without oversight is a dollar unavailable for mental health, housing, and real public safety.

The Riverside Civil Grand Jury recommended that Riverside County enact an independent sheriff oversight committee after rising civil rights abuses and in-custody deaths.

The Riverside Civil Grand Jury recommended that Riverside County enact an independent sheriff oversight committee after rising civil rights abuses and in-custody deaths.

A 38-year-old inmate died in custody following a medical emergency at a Southern California jail, authorities announced Wednesday.

Corrections staff and jail medical personnel responded to one of the day rooms at the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta after deputies reported the emergency Tuesday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

A 19-year-old inmate found unresponsive inside a housing cell at the Robert Presley Detention Center died in an apparent suicide, authorities announced Friday.

BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) - A 46-year-old felon awaiting trial on arson and other charges died in his jail cell in Banning today, but authorities said there was no indication of foul play.   

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The First Amendment Coalition has filed a lawsuit against Riverside County for violating state law by refusing to release public records and information sought by investigative journalist Christopher Damien about deaths in jail custody.

“When people die in the government’s custody, their relatives and the public have the right to review the government’s investigation of that death,” said Damien. “The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has withheld details about these investigations for far too long. California law is clear: These are public records.”

Families of people who died in Riverside County jails are pushing for independent oversight of the Sheriff’s Department, while pointing to over $100 million in taxpayer-funded settlements and a disturbing surge of in-custody deaths.

One answer activists with the Riverside Sheriff’s Accountability Coalition (RSAC) are pushing, is the plan to skip the Board of Supervisors entirely, and go straight for a ballot initiative and the community to force real change.

“Truth matters”—at least that’s what Sheriff Bianco claimed last week when he dismissed oversight as “pro-criminal.” But the truth he refuses to face is the one Riverside County lives with every day: a sheriff who smears grieving families as “anti-law enforcement,” dismisses data when it doesn’t serve him. While he denies and distorts reality: every Riverside County resident is still living with the fallout of leading the nation in in-custody deaths in 2022, and the continuing deaths, lawsuits, and misconduct that show how deeply the system is failing.

The groups are 'united by the simple belief that public safety must be accountable to the public it serves,' said one activist

A coalition of Riverside County advocacy groups wants voters to decide whether an independent sheriff's accountability committee should be established to provide civilians an opportunity to investigate jail deaths, possible misconduct and propose changes.