California senator introduces bill seeking to separate Riverside County Sheriff and Coroner's offices
Newly proposed state legislation seeks to separate the Riverside County Sheriff's and Coroner's offices in order to eliminate potential conflicts of interest regarding in-custody death investigations.
According to Senate Bill 1379, which was introduced by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), medicolegal death investigation services would be transferred to a newly established medical examiner's office. It was recently approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
"This bill would require the board of supervisors for the County of Riverside to separate the offices of sheriff and coroner, abolish the office of coroner, and provide for the office of medical examiner ... by July 1, 2027," the bill's text says. "The bill would prohibit a person other than the county's medical examiner from signing specified documents."
Documents specified by the text include a death certificate and any portion of a postmortem examination.
Additionally, the bill would require that the new medical examiner publish "specified information regarding in-custody persons" online. That information includes details like incident reports on in-custody deaths, a centralized public database that has information on deaths at each facility, demographic data of the deceased and notes on serious in-custody incidents like deaths by suicide, overdoses or medical distress.
Cervantes drafted the bill due to concern over investigations into in-custody deaths in Riverside County. In 2024, a CalMatters investigation into county jails concluded that "some of California's deadliest jails are in Riverside County," which was echoed by a 2025 report by the New York Times that found the number of deaths from 2020 to 2023 made the county's system "the second deadliest in the nation during that period."
"Although the County of Riverside makes up only about 6 percent of California's population, it accounts for approximately 10 percent of the state's in-custody deaths, with Latinos representing about 43 percent of those deaths from 2005 to 2024, inclusive," the bill says. It also notes that lawsuits from family members of people who have died in custody have resulted in almost $100 million in settlements paid by county taxpayers over 10 years from 2014 to 2024.
Sheriff Chad Bianco, who says that more than 600 jobs would be impacted if the bill moves forward, opposed the proposed legislation in a statement provided to CBS LA.
"Only activists and politicians with agendas think it's a good idea to separate the two offices. The fact that a bill would make it through Senate that could change legislation by singling out a county based on emotionally charged, embellished, and sometimes made-up allegations highlights exactly what is wrong with California politics and one-party rule," Bianco's statement said. "The service to the county would be greatly diminished, which is why they were combined in the first place 25 years ago."
The legislation would not affect San Bernardino or Orange counties, where the sheriff's offices have oversight of the county coroner, respectively. In Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the sheriff's departments and medical examiners function independently.
The bill must pass through the Senate and Assembly floors by August 31 in order to be considered for law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
