Penal Code section 6034
(a)
There is hereby created the position of Director of In-Custody Death Review within the Board of State and Community Corrections. Subject to Senate confirmation, the Governor shall appoint the director to a six-year term.(b)
Commencing July 1, 2024, the director shall review investigations of any death incident, as defined in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 832.10, occurring within a local detention facility, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 832.10, and may, upon determination by the board that it is necessary and appropriate, conduct further review of a death incident. Upon that review, the director shall make specific and customized recommendations to the sheriff or administrator of the local detention facility who operates the local detention facility regarding those incidents, including changes to policies, procedures, and practices, facility upgrades, staffing considerations, the delivery of medical and behavioral health services within local detention facilities, and operational and capital funding requirements to address the director’s recommendations.(c)
Within 90 days of receipt of the director’s recommendations, the sheriff or administrator who operates the local detention facility shall identify the director’s recommendations that will be implemented and shall provide a timeline for implementation and the anticipated cost of implementing those recommendations. The sheriff or administrator who operates the local detention facility shall also identify the director’s recommendations that will not or cannot be implemented, accompanied by an explanation of why the recommendations will not or cannot be implemented. The Board of State and Community Corrections may call upon the sheriff or administrator who operates the local detention facility to respond to the Board of State and Community Corrections at a regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the recommendations and responses.(d)
The recommendations and responses shall be available to the public. The director and the sheriff or administrator of the local detention facility may, in their discretion, redact these disclosures or otherwise protect the names of individuals, specific locations, or other facts that, if not redacted, might hinder litigation related to the review, compromise the safety and security of staff, inmates, or members of the public, or where disclosure of the information is otherwise prohibited by law. Copies of public reports shall be posted on the Board of State and Community Corrections’s internet website.(e)
Commencing July 1, 2024, and upon appropriation by the Legislature for this purpose, the Board of State and Community Corrections shall employ a sufficient number of licensed medical professionals and licensed behavioral health professionals to participate in the reviews described in this section, assist with establishing and implementing health and behavioral health standards for local detention facilities, and review the delivery of medical and behavioral health services within local detention facilities.
Source:
Section 6034, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=6034. (updated Jan. 1, 2024; accessed Sep. 1, 2025).
