WEBER’S JAIL-REFORM BILL MOVES FORWARD

Legislation to better protect inmates now in Newsom’s hands

In the last hours of the Legislative session, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Akilah Weber to reduce in-custody deaths made its way through the statehouse and will next be considered by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The legislation, known as Assembly Bill 268, would require the Board of State and Community Corrections, which oversees county jails, to establish stricter standards for providing mental health services to people incarcerated in local detention facilities.

It also calls on the board to add both a licensed medical provider and a licensed mental health provider to the panel now dominated by law enforcement officials.

Weber’s office did not respond to a request for comment. But in her analysis of AB 268, she said the legislation was needed to protect people in local jails.

“There’s a crisis of incarcerated people dying behind bars,” said Weber, a Democrat from La Mesa.

“The California Board of State and Community Corrections is tasked with establishing the minimum standards for jail systems to follow, and it is time to update those practices to ensure we are preventing the loss of life due to inadequate policies and care for individuals in custody,” she said.

The bill may yet hit a wall at the governor’s office.

Newsom vetoed a similar bill a year ago, saying adding extra positions to the 13member board could impede its ability to carry out its mission in a timely manner.

Weber said the changes are needed to reduce in-custody deaths, which have plagued county jails across California in recent years — and nowhere more so than in San Diego County, where 234 people have died behind bars since 2006.

Many of the deaths are due to inadequate medical and mental health treatment in local jails, according to legal complaints filed by relatives of people whose loved ones died in custody.

The deaths, which disproportionately affect people who cannot make bail, do more than destroy families. They have cost taxpayers in San Diego County millions of dollars in recent years in jury awards and legal settlements.

The California State Auditor issued a report last year noting that conditions in San Diego County jails were so dangerous for incarcerated men and women that state legislation was necessary to impose reforms on the Sheriff ’s Department.

AB 268 passed the Legislature a day after a related bill introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, DSan Diego, also was sent to the governor’s desk.

That bill, Senate Bill 519, would require sheriffs to disclose internal department records related to jail deaths.

It would also create the position of a state director to review how sheriffs handle in-custody death investigations and require sheriffs to respond to findings and any related recommendations within 90 days.

If Newsom signs AB 268 into law, the Board of State and Community Corrections would be required to establish minimum standards in medical and mental health care no later than July 1, 2024.

Among other things, the bill would require sheriffs’ departments to conduct “sufficiently detailed safety checks” on incarcerated people who are designated at risk of suicide or other health threats.

It also would require additional training for jail deputies and other employees as a way of better protecting people in custody.