County of Riverside: separation of county offices: in-custody reports., the official text

An act to add Section 24309 to the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law generally regulates the government of counties. Existing law authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to consolidate the duties of various county offices in various combinations, including combining the duties of the sheriff and the coroner. Existing law also authorizes the board of supervisors of a county to separate the duties of consolidated offices.
This bill would require the board of supervisors for the County of Riverside to separate the offices of sheriff and coroner by July 1, 2027, as specified. The bill would require the county’s board of supervisors to take certain actions with respect to medicolegal death investigation services. The bill would prohibit a person other than the county’s coroner or a medical examiner from signing specified documents. The bill would require the county to publish specified information regarding in-custody persons on its internet website.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for County of Riverside.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. By requiring the county to provide a higher level of service, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 24309 is added to the Government Code, to read:
24309.
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Board of supervisors” means the board of supervisors for the county.
(2) “County” means the County of Riverside.
(3) “In-custody death” means the death of a person who is any of the following:
(A) Detained, under arrest, or in the process of being arrested by the county sheriff’s office.
(B) En route to be incarcerated by the county sheriff’s office.
(C) Incarcerated at a county jail.
(D) At a medical facility while in custody of the county sheriff’s office.
(4) “Recognized employee organization” has the same meaning as defined in Section 3501.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the board of supervisors shall separate the offices of sheriff and coroner by July 1, 2027.
(c) The board of supervisors shall do both of the following for medicolegal death investigation services:
(1) Move the services to the coroner’s office.
(2) Require the use of an independent medical examiner model for the services.
(d) A person other than the coroner or a medical examiner shall not sign either of the following:
(1) A death certificate.
(2) Any portion of a postmortem examination.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, both of the following apply to an employee represented by a recognized employee organization on the date the act adding this paragraph is enacted who is transferred, reassigned, reclassified, retitled, or moved to a different office or agency as a result of this section:
(A) They shall remain within the same recognized bargaining unit.
(B) They shall continue to be represented by the employee organization that served as the employee’s exclusive representative immediately prior to the transfer.
(2) An employee transferred pursuant to this section shall retain all rights, benefits, retirement status, seniority, compensation, and representation status applicable immediately prior to the transfer.
(3) Notwithstanding any other law, an affected employee who holds peace officer status pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 830.35 of the Penal Code shall retain, or be placed in, a classification qualifying for peace officer status pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 830.35 of the Penal Code until the expiration of the memorandum of understanding that is in effect on the date the act adding this paragraph is enacted.
(4) The transfer of functions, duties, classifications, positions, or employees pursuant to this section shall not constitute grounds for any of the following:
(A) The creation of a new bargaining unit.
(B) The modification of an existing bargaining unit.
(C) The removal of an employee from a bargaining unit represented by the affected employee organization.
(5) The implementation of this section shall not diminish, impair, alter, or affect the rights of a recognized employee organization or any memorandum of understanding in effect on the date the act adding this paragraph is enacted.
(f) The county shall publish all of the following on its internet website:
(1) An initial incident report of an in-custody death within 24 hours of the death.
(2) A preliminary report of an in-custody death within 72 hours of the death.
(3) In-custody death data in a centralized public database that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:
(A) The number of deaths by facility.
(B) The cause of death for each death.
(C) Demographic data of the deceased.
(D) Medical response times to the incident resulting in the death.
(4) A notice of each in-custody serious incident, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(A) A suicide attempt.
(B) A drug overdose, including any Narcan reversal.
(C) A person suffering severe withdrawal symptoms.
(D) A person suffering medical distress during restraint.
(E) Any time a person’s medical request is ignored and that person is subsequently taken to the hospital.
(5) Any Department of Justice in-custody death reporting form submitted to the Department of Justice for an in-custody death.
(g) The county shall notify the next of kin of the cause of death of an in-custody death within 72 hours of the determination of the cause of death.

SEC. 2.
The Legislature finds and declares that a special statute is necessary and that a general statute cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the significantly higher rates of deaths in County of Riverside jails compared to the rest of the state.

SEC. 3.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.