Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who's downplayed record deaths in his jails, has been stripped of his role as coroner. Gov. Newsom signed a law Wednesday that will split the Riverside County Sheriff and Coroner's offices.
Critics of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department have been pushing for the separation of the offices since 2022 when a rash of in-custody deaths claimed 18 lives— the most in any year in two decades.
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors have until July 1, 2027 to separate the office and create a new independent medical examiner's office. The law mandates that Riverside County publishes information about in-custody deaths on its website. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office will also be required to notify the next-of-kin of the cause of an in-custody death within 72 hours of the determination of cause-of-death.
The bill's author, Democratic State Senator Sabrina Cervantes, said in a statement the bill 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 said. "We owe the families the truth; we owe our communities accountability; and we owe county taxpayers a system they can trust."
Lisa Matus' son, Richard, died in a Riverside County jail in 2022. Matus, who's been advocating for the separation of the sheriff and coroner's offices, said she hopes the new system will improve transparency.
"We'll have public trust, and that's what's important. We can trust this system," said Matus.
The state of California must reimburse local agencies for certain costs mandated by the state. Riverside County CEO Jeff Van Wagenen said in a statement that creating a new county department in nine months is a significant undertaking.
"While the law provides direction regarding the structure of the new office and includes important protections for affected County employees, there are substantial costs that are not covered by this new state mandate," said Van Wagenen.
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco did not respond to KVCR's request for comment.
