Le Journal

Chris Kozak led Middlesex with 17 points in its 65-54 win over South Brunswick in Middlesex.

A state office created in 2024 to scrutinize local investigations into jail deaths has yet to complete a single review of the more than 150 people who have died in custody in California’s county jails over the past year-and-a-half. That’s because it hasn’t received the records needed to fully analyze the deaths, according to the Board of State and Community Corrections, a regulatory body appointed by the governor to oversee the state’s jails and juvenile halls. SB 519, signed into law in October 2023, established the In-Custody Death Review Division within the BSCC following a series of deadly years in San Diego, Riverside and Los Angeles county jails. But the new law’s limitations quickly became apparent once the division began collecting data on deaths that occurred after its formation in July 2024. The initial information submitted by counties lacked sufficient detail, with the majority of the means and manners of death listed as “pending investigation.” Such internal investigations can take months — sometimes even years — to complete. In early discussions, the counties made it “clear they would not send nonpublic information,” such as medical records or investigatory materials, according to Jana Sanford-Miller, a spokesperson for the BSCC. “Some agencies did not send records, and others sent redacted records,” Sanford-Miller said. “We have yet to receive a completed investigation for an in-custody death in a local detention facility.” As a result, it hasn’t completed any review, though there is hope that will change soon. Late last year, the BSCC worked with the governor’s office, the Legislature and the Department of Finance to add language to a trailer bill hitched to the 2025-26 budget that clarified that ICDR’s director and employees can have full, unredacted access to investigative records, including medical information that would otherwise be protected under federal privacy laws. Allison Ganter, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to a six-year term as the division’s director in October 2024, stressed in a statement that her office is “committed to conducting meaningful and transparent reviews of deaths that occur in local detention facilities.” “Families experience unimaginable pain when their loved ones die in custody, and that pain is magnified when questions about their death go unanswered,” she stated. “Our goal is to understand why people die in custody, make recommendations to prevent future deaths, and share our findings to drive systematic change in local detention facilities.” A spokesperson for Newsom’s office declined to comment. Original bill touted Newsom, in response to questions in early 2024 from CalMatters about high statewide jail deaths, touted signing the legislation, saying it would create “a point person specifically responsible for overseeing what’s happening in county jails” who would work with California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s Office to advance Department of Justice investigations into the deaths. Bonta had sued Riverside County in 2023 and later would sue Los Angeles County in 2025 over “inhumane” jail conditions. The ICDR, however, is “not currently working with the Attorney General’s office on in-custody deaths,” according to Sanford-Miller. Advocates and the families of the deceased have called for independent review of in-custody deaths for years. Official autopsy reports — one of the few publicly accessible records prior to SB 519’s passage — typically do not factor in the quality of medical care or how conditions within the jails may have contributed to an inmate’s death. Last year, the Southern California News Group analyzed more than a thousand pages of lawsuits, audits, coroner reports and investigative reviews. The review found that someone died in custody in the jails of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties every five days on average and detailed instances of institutional neglect and failed supervision. In one example, a 61-year-old man was listed as…