CLERB leadership has advocated for the change for years, citing the board\u2019s inability to answer key questions when a person dies in custody.<\/p>\n
The review board first voted to explore expanding its authority<\/a> in October 2021, at the urging of then-Executive Officer Paul Parker. The board\u2019s jurisdiction is now limited to looking into whether policy violations by sheriff\u2019s deputies played a role in a person\u2019s death.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we cannot look at the care provided to people in custody, we really are not getting the full picture,\u201d Parker said at the time.<\/p>\n The proposal stalled after the resignation of Supervisor Nathan Fletcher<\/a>, a supporter of stronger oversight, in March 2023. Parker resigned a year later<\/a>, citing frustration with persistent roadblocks to reform.<\/p>\n But Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe, who was elected in November 2023 to the seat Fletcher previously held, has taken up the legislative effort to expand CLERB\u2019s jurisdiction. Speaking at a December news conference<\/a> outside the County Administration Center, she said she and her colleagues have a moral obligation to act.<\/p>\n \u201cThe individuals who have lost their lives are not just statistics,\u201d she said. \u201cWe owe it to their families, their communities and our own collective conscience to ensure that these deaths are investigated thoroughly, transparently and fairly.\u201d<\/p>\n She cited a 2022 state audit that documented 185 deaths in San Diego County jails between 2006 and 2020 and found that conditions were so dangerous, new laws were needed to protect people held inside.<\/p>\n \u201cMore disturbingly,\u201d Montgomery Steppe wrote in a memo to her board colleagues, \u201cafter the report was published, the rate of in-custody deaths in San Diego County jails further increased. In 2021, there was a record of 18 jail deaths, which was surpassed a year later, when there were 19.\u201d<\/p>\n Jail deaths have declined since Kelly Martinez became sheriff. There were 13 deaths in 2023 and eight in 2024. Eight people have died so far this year, including 35-year-old Steven Curren, who died just last week, one day after being taken into custody.<\/a><\/p>\n Public records and lawsuits show that many in-custody deaths involved serious health care lapses \u2014 medication being withheld, delayed care and failure to monitor people with serious illnesses.<\/p>\n The family of Elisa Serna won a $15 million settlement<\/a>\u00a0from the county and a jail medical contractor last July. Serna died Nov. 11, 2019, five days after she was booked into jail. Records obtained through her family\u2019s lawsuit showed that she hadn\u2019t been placed<\/a> on drug- and alcohol-withdrawal protocols, even though she had been candid about her drug and alcohol use during the intake process.<\/p>\n Michael Wilson already suffered from congestive heart failure when he was booked into the downtown Central Jail on Feb. 5, 2019, but he never was given the prescription medications he relied on to stay alive. He died nine days later at 32 years old. Last November, his family was awarded $6 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n And over the last two years, the county medical examiner has twice ruled the death of a person in sheriff\u2019s custody a homicide due to neglect.<\/p>\n Keith Bach<\/a> died Sept. 28, 2023, hours after his insulin pump ran dry. A nurse had requested an increased dosage, the medical examiner\u2019s report says, but the approval was \u201cpending review\u201d at the time of Bach\u2019s death. There is no record of Bach receiving any additional medical care<\/p>\n The other homicide ruling was made after the March 17, 2022, death of Lonnie Rupard<\/a>, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and other mental health disorders. He died from malnutrition, dehydration and pneumonia, <\/strong>in what the county deemed a homicide by neglect.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile elements of self-neglect were present,\u201d Deputy Medical Examiner Bethann Schaber wrote of Rupard\u2019s death, \u201cultimately this decedent was dependent upon others for his care; therefore, the manner of death is classified as homicide.\u201d<\/p>\n CLERB leaders say surviving relatives have long urged them to investigate their late loved ones\u2019 care in jail.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies of people who have died in custody come to every one of our meetings,\u201d CLERB Chair MaryAnne Pintar told The San Diego Union-Tribune, \u201cand they plead with us to look at how health care is provided in our detention facilities and how that may have played a role in the death of their loved one \u2014 but currently we have no authority to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheriff Martinez has repeatedly objected to the plan.<\/p>\n In a March 11 memo<\/a> to county supervisors, she warned that expanding CLERB\u2019s oversight to include medical providers could have unintended consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cCompliance with an ordinance giving civilian investigative authority oversight in this area would result in a severe lack of appropriate medical care for a high-risk and vulnerable population,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Martinez said the county\u2019s two health care contractors \u2014 NaphCare and Correctional Healthcare Partners \u2014 had warned they might terminate their contracts or seek significantly higher compensation if subjected to civilian oversight.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth providers stated they could potentially end their contract \u2026 or if they moved forward, they would have to mitigate risk to their operations by substantially increasing their costs,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n![\"CLERB](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-CLERB-MEETING-010.jpg\")
CLERB Chair MaryAnne Pintar listens during a meeting at the San Diego County Administration Center on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 in San Diego. (Meg McLaughlin \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Cecilia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-Jail-Death-1.jpg\")
Cecilia Bach becomes emotional during a press conference about her late husband on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024 in San Diego. Keith Bach died in San Diego County sheriff\u2019s custody after being denied insulin. (Ana Ramirez \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/SUT-L-1206716-Serna-doctor-arraignment.jpg\")
Dr. Friederike Von Lintig \u2014 who faced criminal charges in connection with the death of Elisa Serna in jail \u2014 appears in court at El Cajon Superior Court on Oct. 26, 2022. (Eduardo Contreras \/ U-T file)<\/p>\n