Report 2021-109 Recommendation Responses
Report 2021-109: San Diego County Sheriff's Department: It Has Failed to Adequately Prevent and Respond to the Deaths of Individuals in Its Custody (Release Date: February 2022)
Recommendation for Legislative Action
To ensure that standards of care for incarcerated individuals are adequate and consistent across the State, the Legislature should amend state law to require BSCC to amend certain regulations to address the following:
- County sheriff's departments with jails that have an average daily population of more than 1,000 must have a mental health professional perform mental health evaluations at intake.
- Safety checks must include a procedure for checking to see that each individual is alive.
Description of Legislative Action
AB 268 (Weber, 2023) would, among other things, commencing July 1, 2024, require the BSCC to develop and adopt regulations pertaining to standards of care for incarcerated persons with mental health issues by local correctional facilities, including requiring that mental health screening or evaluation be conducted at booking or intake by a qualified mental health care professional, if available. Mental health screening or evaluation that is conducted by anybody other than a qualified mental health care professional would have to be reviewed by a qualified mental health care professional as soon as reasonably practicable. The bill would also require that safety checks be sufficiently detailed to determine the safety and well-being of incarcerated persons and that they are not in distress. Bill is pending in Assembly Appropriations Committee 3/22/2023.
SB 762 (Becker, 2023) would require the BSCC to revise standards to require a local detention facility to include a procedure for affirming that an incarcerated individual is alive during a safety check. As of 3/29/2023, the bill was referred to the Committee on Public Safety.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: April 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Legislation Introduced
Description of Legislative Action
AB 2343 (Weber, Atkins, 2022) would require the BSCC to adopt regulations setting minimum standards for mental health care at local correctional facilities, including safety checks of incarcerated persons that are sufficiently detailed to determine that the inmate is alive. As of September 2, 2022, this bill passed the legislature and has been submitted to the Governor for signature.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: September 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Legislation Introduced
As of September 2, 2022, this AB 2343 passed the legislature and has been submitted to the Governor for signature.
Description of Legislative Action
As of April 4, 2022, the Legislature has not taken action to address these specific recommendations. However, AB 2343 (Weber, 2022) would require BSCC, commencing July 1, 2023, to develop and adopt regulations setting minimum standards for mental health care at local correctional facilities that meet or exceed the standards for health services in jails established by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care. Those regulations would be required to include a provision that a mental health screening or evaluation conducted at booking or intake be conducted by a qualified mental health care professional, if available. A mental health screening or evaluation that is conducted by anybody other than a qualified mental health care professional shall be reviewed by a qualified mental health care professional as soon as reasonably practicable. The regulations must address safety checks in sufficient detail to determinate that an inmate is alive. As of April 2022, this bill is pending in the Assembly.
- Legislative Action Current As-of: April 2022