Riverside County to Split Sheriff-Coroner Offices Under SB 1379
Governor Newsom has signed SB 1379 (authored by Senator Sabrina Cervantes), requiring Riverside County to separate its sheriff's department from the coroner's office and establish a fully independent medical examiner's office by July 1, 2027. For years, the Riverside County sheriff has also served as county coroner — an arrangement about to become history.
Supporters of the bill point to an obvious conflict of interest when the sheriff doubles as coroner: in officer-involved deaths and in-custody deaths, the agency investigating the cause of death belongs to the same "family" as the law enforcement agency involved, making independent and impartial findings difficult. A 2022 study found that California counties using the combined sheriff-coroner model were more likely to underreport officer-involved homicides in official databases, and Riverside County's 2022 jail death rate ranked second-highest in the state, intensifying scrutiny of the current system.
Most California counties still use the combined model; only 10 counties statewide have an independent coroner or medical examiner's office. SB 1379 applies only to Riverside County, but observers say the move could prompt a statewide reexamination of the combined model. Sheriff Chad Bianco has consistently denied criticism of his department's tactics and policies, attributing it largely to anti-law-enforcement activists.
To implement the reform, an ad hoc oversight committee of the Board of Supervisors will hold three public hearings: October 13 at 6 p.m. at the County Administrative Center in Riverside, October 22 at 6 p.m. at the Coachella Valley Water District in Palm Desert, and October 26 at 6 p.m. online (streamed on YouTube, with a Spanish-language session). The committee will submit its findings to the Board of Supervisors by the end of next January. (Compiled from Desert Sun, MyNewsLA and other reporting; rewritten by GSM)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Norarobless，CC BY-SA 3.0，Wikimedia Commons
