Press release from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

It is with heavy hearts that the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office announces the passing of Sergeant Jim Mowrey on August 9, 2023, following a valiant and determined battle against cancer over the course of four months.  Jim’s unwavering commitment to his duties and the community he served has left an indelible mark on the department and our hearts.

Mowrey..

Sergeant Mowrey started his career with the Sheriff’s Office on January 2, 2007, and for 16 years, he demonstrated an unparalleled dedication to public service. Throughout his distinguished career, Jim seamlessly challenged himself to increase his level of responsibilities, including patrol duty, court bailiff, a member of the Marijuana Enforcement Team, a special agent of the Drug Task Force, a Field Training Officer, and a respected Corporal.

Jim’s extraordinary talents, determination, and physical abilities drove him to become a member of the Sheriff’s SWAT team. There, he took on the prestigious roles of Team Leader and Team Commander, leaving a lasting impact through his leadership and commitment. In recognition of his exceptional dedication and exemMowrey’splary leadership, Jim earned a promotion to the rank of Patrol Sergeant on October 21, 2018.

In the past year, Jim took on the pivotal role of overseeing and guiding the operations of the Humboldt County Drug Task Force. He consistently set the bar high for himself and those he mentored, distinguishing himself as an exceptional law enforcement professional who consistently held himself to the highest standards.

A testament to his relentless pursuit of excellence, Jim recently graduated from the esteemed Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute, underscoring his commitment to continual growth and improvement in his field.

Growing up in our very own community, Jim’s genuine care for Humboldt County and its residents was highly visible. His selflessness and consistently placing the well-being of others before his own defined his character.  Over the span of his 16-year service, Jim garnered numerous commendations and expressions of gratitude, each one a testament to his impactful contribution to our community.

Sergeant Jim Mowrey, 44 years old, was a devoted husband and a loving father of four, the youngest being just six years old.  A cherished friend to many, his absence will be deeply felt by all who had the privilege of knowing him. The legacy he leaves behind is one of selflessness, dedication, and unwavering commitment to his family and our community.

The entire Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office extends its deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of Sergeant Jim Mowrey during this difficult time. His memory will forever be engrained in our department’s history and the hearts of those he touched.

The hottest new restaurant in California might be your local elementary school.

Thanks to a surge of nearly $15 billion in state and federal funding, school districts are ditching the old standbys — frozen pizza and chicken nuggets — in favor of organic salads, free-range grilled chicken, vegan chana masala, chilaquiles and other treats. Districts are building new kitchens, hiring executive chefs, contracting directly with local organic farmers, and training their staffs to cook the finest cuisine. One district in San Luis Obispo County even bought a stone mill to grind its own wheat for bread and pasta.

The move to healthier, fresher school meals comes on the heels of California’s first-in-the-nation program providing free breakfast, lunch and snacks to nearly 6 million students in public schools, regardless of whether they qualify under federal income guidelines. The expansion of the meal program, combined with investments in school kitchens and training, have made public schools the largest restaurant system in the state, serving nearly 1 billion meals a year — more than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Subway combined.

“We now have the money and the green light to go all out. There’s no more excuses,” said Juan Cordon, food services director at Vacaville Unified, where students now enjoy offerings such as regeneratively raised pork sandwiches, Strauss Family Creamery organic yogurt and ​​chipotle chilaquiles. “Everything is turbo charged. It’s like, let’s do it fast, let’s do it now, let’s do it right.”

A plethora of research shows the benefits of healthy school meals. A 2020 study in the journal Nutrients looked at 502 school meal programs and found that students who ate meals at school had better attendance, higher academic achievement and improved health overall.

The school meal expansion sprung from a handful of government investments during the pandemic, when the economy upended and schools closed, leaving thousands of low-income students and their families without steady access to food. The federal government expanded access to school meals for the first 27 months of the pandemic, and when that program expired, California stepped in with permanent funding for all students to receive free meals at school.

The state also created a program called Kitchen Infrastructure and Training Funds, which has given $750 million to schools to upgrade their kitchens, hire and train staff and make other improvements so they could serve high-quality meals made from scratch for all students. About 90% of districts have received a grant. Another state program, called Farm to School, has doled out nearly $100 million for schools to partner with local farms, plant school gardens and other projects to bolster locally sourced food in school lunchrooms.

“We now have the money and the green light to go all out. There’s no more excuses.”
— Juan Cordon, food services director at Vacaville Unified

The switch to fresh, made-from-scratch meals has been popular with students.

Alysa Oliver, a sophomore at Aptos High in Pajaro Unified, said that school lunches used to be so bad she’d sometimes just eat an apple, suffering through the afternoon on an empty stomach.

“The food used to come in little plastic packages that you’d warm up, and it had this condensed, sweaty feeling,” Oliver said. “Now we have this high-quality food that’s better for you, and it tastes better.”

Enjoying a healthy meal enables her to pay closer attention in class, she said, and ultimately enjoy school more. Her favorite choices are Caesar salad, chicken wraps, berries and bananas.

Pajaro Valley Unified, in Santa Cruz County, is among the districts that’s on the forefront of the revolution in school meals. In addition to offering a daily selection of healthy entrees, the district has a partnership Esperanza Community Farms and Pajaro Valley High School in which students harvest produce themselves, bring it back to school and prepare it for their classmates. Local farmers visit classrooms to talk about agriculture, and students learn about career pathways in the farming industry. The program has been so popular that the district is expanding to another high school this year.

The challenges of ‘farm to school’

Although more schools statewide are embracing the farm-to-school model, there have been hiccups. Staffing is a major one. School food service workers typically earn less than $20 an hour, less than a fast food worker, which means districts often struggle to fill vacancies. A recent check of EdJoin, the state’s largest education job board, showed 851 openings for food service workers in California.

Another hassle for schools is paperwork. Even though the meals are free and available to all students, families still need to apply because schools need to track how many students qualify under the federal free-and-reduced-price lunch program. The federal government uses the numbers to reimburse schools for those children’s meals, and the state uses the numbers to determine funding formulas based on low-income student enrollment.

“The school lunch program is as complicated as the U.S. tax code. It is wild,” said Jennifer McNeil, a co-founder of LunchAssist, a firm that helps school districts navigate the bureaucracy. “There are a lot of requirements and mandates that affect what goes on that lunch tray.”

School food service workers train at the Culinary Institute of America as part of Farm to School, an initiative to provide healthier lunches in California schools, in Napa on Aug 3, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters

Another challenge is logistics. School kitchens typically don’t have the staff, time or room to clean and chop 500 butternut squashes, for example, so they need to send produce to a processing plant, which may be 50 miles away. Transporting the produce long distances can be expensive and inefficient, especially if it needs to be distributed to a dozen different school sites.

“I might need 30 cases of strawberries from Farmer X, and 20 cases of cucumbers from Farmer Y, and those farmers might have no way of getting their goods to different schools. It’s not easy,” said Jean Aitken, food services director at Pajaro Valley Unified. “We’re working on it, but right now we’re not set up to handle all the details.”

A need for more food hubs

Yousef Buzayan, farm-to-market senior manager at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, an advocacy group based in Davis, said California needs more middlemen — known as food hubs — to purchase, process and distribute produce to schools. Currently, each district is forging its own arrangements, which is not practical in many parts of the state.

Food hubs could also arrange field trips, visits from farmers and other aspects of agricultural education, as well as help farmers get fair prices and a predictable, steady market for their produce. A few, such as the Yolo Food Hub, are already offering these services, but the state could use more, he said.

“Potentially, this could have a huge impact not just on students, but on farms in California generally, especially small farms,” Buzayan said. “But right now we need to think of a new business model focused just on schools.”

Getting students to love quinoa

Another thing LunchAssist helps with is the age-old challenge faced by parents everywhere: How do you get a 7-year-old to try new foods? All the innovative new programs will be for naught if kids toss their lunches in the trash, McNeil noted.

A few suggestions she offers to schools: Set up taste tests so students can vote for their favorites; educate students about nutrition, where food comes from and how it’s made; pair something new with an old favorite; and add Tajin seasoning, which can make anything taste good, she said.

Some districts are paying close attention to what students eat at home, and creating menus that reflect families’ diverse culinary traditions. The idea is to give students food they already enjoy while exposing them to new cuisines. Chefs at several districts vouched for the power of peer pressure: Kids are more likely to try something new if they see their friends eating it.

“The students like to be part of the conversation. By asking them what they like, where they’re from, it shows we’re paying attention and listening to them.”
— Josh Gjersand, executive chef at mount diablo unified

At Mt. Diablo Unified in Contra Costa County, the district hired an executive chef, Josh Gjersand, who’d previously worked at fine dining restaurants in San Francisco and the East Bay. He chose to work in schools, he said, because of the regular hours, rewards of serving children and the funding available to be creative and ambitious.

One of his first tasks was to survey students about what they want to eat. They asked for halal meat, Latin American and Asian specialties and vegan options. So he came up with a menu featuring entrees like chana masala with chickpeas, organic rice, wheatberries and chutney; birria with locally processed, grass-fed beef; and fish filet tacos with slaw.

“The students like to be part of the conversation. By asking them what they like, where they’re from, it shows we’re paying attention and listening to them,” he said. “It’s amazing, the feedback we’ve been getting. It’s the best feeling.”

Humboldt County has a unique approach to serving “culturally relevant” school foods. Nearly 10% of students there are Native American, so the County Office of Education is offering meals — and curriculum — based on local native foods such as fish, berries and acorns.

“I started here 27 years ago and it’s exciting to see these changes, the positive impact on students and staff,” said Linda Prescott, the County Office of Education nutrition program director. “And we’re definitely seeing the economic impact on farmers. I think it’s making a difference in Humboldt.”

“I’m not really a cook. Before, we just defrosted stuff. This is all new and a little scary. But I want to learn.”
— Renee Williams, food worker for 14 years at San Luis Coastal Unified

The fine art of cooking was central to a training last week at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, one of the top cooking schools in the country. About three dozen school cafeteria workers from two districts in San Luis Obispo County gathered for a two-day training — paid for with state grants — on how to roast a sirloin, make grilled salmon with orange-thyme butter, braise greens and make other delicacies.

Renee Williams, who’s been in food service for 14 years at San Luis Coastal Unified, said she was a little daunted by the whole scene: the special CIA aprons, the fancy gas stoves, the huge glinting knives.

“I’m not really a cook. Before, we just defrosted stuff,” Williams said. “This is all new and a little scary. But I want to learn.”

‘A circular economy’

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who’s long advocated for improved school meals, checked in on the new chefs as they learned to julienne carrots and make the perfect roast potatoes.

As part of Farm to School, an initiative to provide healthier lunches in California schools, School food service workers at San Luis Coastal Unified School District, Teresa Vigil, left, and Maria Martínez, right, train at the Culinary Institute of America in Napa on Aug 3, 2023. Photo by Semantha Norris, CalMatters

She views the state’s investment in school nutrition as transformative for students, small farms and local economies. In five to 10 years she hopes to see food hubs well established throughout the state, and all schools participating.

“(My vision is that) we reach every public school kid in California, and have influenced the regenerative agricultural movement in California in such a way that most farms are practicing climate-smart agriculture,” Siebel Newsom said. “The small- and medium-scale farmers will benefit because they’ll have guaranteed buyers, and local economies will blossom. It’s a circular economy.”

The next steps, she said, are tackling food waste by establishing composting systems, and teaching students how to plant and cook their own food.

“Talk about awesome summer school,” she said. “We all have to eat. It’s such a gift to know how to cook, and take something seasonal from the garden or the stream and turn it into something that you can then share with other people, break bread, have a conversation and connect and come together as a community.”

###

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

The Biden administration’s environmental justice office is investigating whether California’s water agency has discriminated against Native Americans and other people of color by failing to protect the water quality of San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s investigation was triggered by a complaint filed by tribes and environmental justice organizations that says the the water board for over a decade “has failed to uphold its statutory duty” to review and update water quality standards in the Bay-Delta.

“It’s pretty bad when California Indians have to file a complaint with the Federal Government so that the State doesn’t violate our civil rights,” Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, said in a statement.

The water board has allowed “waterways to descend into ecological crisis, with the resulting environmental burdens falling most heavily on Native tribes and other communities of color,” the complaint says.

The groups also said the state agency “has intentionally excluded local Native Tribes and Black, Asian and Latino residents from participation in the policymaking process associated with the Bay-Delta Plan,” according to an EPA letter to the state dated Tuesday.

Jackie Carpenter, a spokesperson for the water board, said the agency will cooperate fully and “believes U.S. EPA will ultimately conclude the board has acted appropriately.”

“The State Water Board deeply values its partnership with tribes to protect and preserve California’s water resources. The board’s highest water quality planning priority has been restoring native fish species in the Delta watershed that many tribes rely upon,” Carpenter said in an emailed statement.

The watershed is the heart of California’s water supply: Covering about 20% of California, it includes the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems and is a vital source of water for 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland.

The Bay-Delta is experiencing an “ecological crisis,” state water regulators have said, including a “prolonged and precipitous decline in numerous native species,” such as endangered winter-run Chinook salmon and the tiny Delta smelt. Intensifying water development, diversions and dwindling freshwater flows have exacerbated the crisis. And the relentless push of saltwater into the Delta and blossoming harmful algal blooms have left farmers and residents desperate for solutions.

Healthy waterways and fisheries are critical to the culture and diet of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians’ and Winnemem Wintu Tribe. Harmful algal blooms, low flows and water contamination also prevent people of color in South Stockton and other communities from using waterways in their neighborhoods for recreation or subsistence fishing.

The EPA’s decision to investigate comes as water board scientists prepare a staff report on updating the Bay-Delta’s water quality plan. Carpenter said the report will evaluate certain tribal beneficial uses.

Among the possible approaches considered in the updated plan will be a $2.6 billion deal that Newsom struck last March with major water suppliers and agricultural irrigation districts, which voluntarily agreed to address flows and habitats in the Delta.

Tribes and environmental organizations said the deal came from backroom negotiations between water suppliers and officials that excluded people of color, and that it “fails to protect the health of the estuary, its native fish and wildlife, and the jobs and communities that depend on its health.”

The complaint mentions Newsom’s voluntary agreements 52 times.

“As long as the state upholds historic water rights, that we all know to be racist and unfair, we will continue to have first- and second-class California communities,” Dillon Delvo, executive director of Little Manila Rising, an organization based in Stockton, said in a statement.

The EPA said in its letter that while an investigation “is not a decision on the merits,” the complaint meets the requirements for initiating its probe, including that “it alleges discriminatory acts by the Board which is a recipient of EPA financial assistance.”

California’s water board will have 30 days to respond, and the EPA will issue its findings within the next six months unless both sides agree to resolve the issue informally.

###

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

Aaron Michael McKay, 41, was born in Arcata on October 22, 1981. He tragically left this earth on July 21, 2023. Aaron attended Equinox Charter, Pacific Union School, and Arcata High School.

He leaves behind his loving wife of 8 years, Angela McKay, sons and best friends Nathan McKay and Kaleb Butterworth, mother Bobbie McKay and her partner Beth, father Michael McKay, sister Amanda McKay and her partner Kelly, and a number of aunts, uncles, and cousins of the McKay and Palazzo family, in-laws of the Butterworth and Svendsen family, coworkers, and friends. Aaron is sorely missed and loved by all.

Aaron worked at restaurants in the Valley West area of Arcata before moving on to Franklin’s Service. He was there for over 17 years, where he was known as a devoted worker, amazing mechanic, and a lifelong friend to those who met him. Many in the community would remark on his devotion to help others and the big smile he wore.

Among Aaron’s favorite hobbies were riding motorcycles, upgrading and racing RC cars, and crafting art projects made out of recycled materials. Anyone who has been to his house has had the opportunity to see the various used car parts that have been made into beautiful waterfalls, tables, and lawn art. Aaron and Angie also loved collecting jars of sand from the all the beaches they visited.

Aaron is survived by his son, Nathan McKay, who he loved more than anything. He was able to see the man that Nathan has started to become, and was immensely proud to be his father. He was the most supportive and loving husband that Angie could have ever imagined. Many admire the relationship that they had. Aaron was fully committed to his family and friends, dropping everything to help out. He was also known as a jokester. The individuals who were lucky enough to meet Aaron can attest to the joy and laughter that he shared with everyone. His family has been supported in ways that they couldn’t imagine. A warm thank you goes out to individuals at Eureka City Schools and the Franklin family.

A private service will be held at a place that Aaron loved for family members and close friends. All are welcome and appreciated at the Celebration of Life. It will be held August 27 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Wharfinger Building located at 1 Marina Way, Eureka.

Aaron, you are loved and missed dearly. Even after your passing we are able to see just how greatly you impacted lives over your time on this earth. We will cherish the memories that you gave us while you were here with us. If family and friends have photos to share, please post at this link and leave a caption. Aaron’s family will visit all these points of light to carry through difficult times ahead.

###

The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Aaron McKay’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

The following is an op-ed written by Jeff Hunerlach of the Humboldt-Del Norte County Building and Construction Trades Council and Tom Wheeler of the Environmental Protection Information Center.

The Outpost will have a full report on this issue soon. The board of the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District will hold a hearing about this matter at its regular meeting tomorrow night.

###

Offshore wind offers enormous potential — for our planet and for our local communities. But to realize that potential, we need to ensure that offshore wind works for the local communities. Local labor and environmentalists are united in a blue-green alliance to solve our climate crisis in a way that builds a clean, thriving, and equitable economy.

Environmentalists stand with Labor in our shared push that the working people of this area benefit from the jobs created by offshore wind. Offshore wind in Humboldt County offers an opportunity to serve as a national example for how to build a thriving green economy: hundreds of blue-collar, family-wage jobs building our renewable energy future. To do this, however, we need firm commitments from the Harbor District through a project labor agreement.

A Project Labor Agreement (PLA) is an agreement negotiated between project developers and labor unions that set forth the terms and conditions for all craft works. The Humboldt-Del Norte County Building and Construction Trades Council has worked with the Harbor District for years to develop a project labor agreement that prioritizes the working people of this region by giving hiring preferences to local and tribal citizens, while providing apprenticeship opportunities for aspiring blue-collar workers.

Currently, our region lacks enough good-paying, skilled job openings to offer stable career options for local residents or to keep our current local workforce local. As a result, the region’s skilled workers are increasingly having to travel to the Bay Area or Central Valley for work. It also drains talent from our region, and reduces the economic benefits of their employment, as their earnings are largely spent far from their home communities. This cycle compounds our region’s ongoing economic struggles, and unless we take action, those struggles will continue to plague us. The negotiations between the Harbor District and the Humboldt-Del Norte County Building and Construction Trades Council have produced a PLA that will create good-paying, safe, and environmentally sustainable jobs right here in Humboldt County.

The tide can turn with the passage of this negotiated PLA, by bringing high-road jobs back to our region. The signing of this PLA only marks the beginning of many years of work to build back a strong labor force through new paid training programs and apprenticeship programs offered by the Humboldt-Del Norte County Building and Construction Trades Council.

Labor stands with environmentalists in our shared push that port development be completed in a sustainable way, that pushes the boundaries of what is possible to reduce emissions from port activities. Ports are notorious for noxious emissions from heavy diesel machinery. Developing a new port for the offshore wind industry offers an opportunity to do things differently from the outset.

Not only is a clean, green port good for the environment, but it is also good for workers and adjacent communities. Electrifying heavy machinery when feasible means more than greenhouse gasses saved, it also means fewer NOx, SOx and other conventional air pollutants and quieter work environments. Pushing for a modern port, however, is going to take the combined power of organized labor and environmentalists.

As we move forward through this process, our alliance knows that there is more work to do as it relates to further expanding and strengthening targeting preferences for our local communities and tribal nations in order to deliver on the promise of a green economy. We remain committed to those goals. To ensure port development benefits all, we are also excited to craft and support future agreements that guarantee safe working conditions and strong protections for vulnerable people in our community.

Please join EPIC and your local Building Trades workers in supporting the passage of this PLA. We owe it to our workers, communities and the environment to pass this PLA and secure a brighter, more sustainable future for everyone.

###

Jeff Hunerlach, Secretary/Treasurer, Humboldt-Del Norte County Building and Construction Trades Council

Tom Wheeler, Executive Director, Environmental Protection Information Center

In a Zoom press conference this morning, state Senator Mike McGuire announced that the state will be funding the purchase of 10 new fire engines for local fire districts in Northern Mendocino and Southern Humboldt counties

The engines will by pickup-style “Type 6” engines that are especially useful in back roads in rural areas, and they will replace “antiquated” versions of the equipment, according to McGuire.

Among the agencies to receive the vehicles are the Briceland, Whitethorn, Garberville, Palo Verde, Telegraph Ridge, Piercy and Leggett volunteer fire departments.

In addition to the new trucks, McGuire announced that the Bell Springs, Whale Gulch, Alderpoint, Redway and Shelter Cove volunteer fire departments will receive training opportunities and grant-writing support.

Nickolas Pape, chief of the Shelter Cove fire department, said during the conference that the engines will support the work of local strike teams in the event of wildfire, and should allow local departments to attack emerging wildfires more quickly.

“Every large fire starts as a small fire, and if we can put the fires out at a quarter-acre, we don’t need to spend millions and billions of dollars on these million-acre fires,” he said.

Pape, who said that local departments hope to have the new engines in service sometime in the middle of next year, added that the engines will also be useful in situations other than wildland fire, such as car crashes, medical calls, and search and rescue operations.

McGuire also announced $6 million in funding for wildfire prevention efforts throughout the North Coast, with nearly $1 million of that earmarked for Humboldt County. These funds will be distributed through grants open to local fire departments, special districts and nonprofit organizations, McGuire said, and will be used for projects such as vegetation removal and the constructions of firebreaks around communities.

Eighteen people died in the San Diego County jail system in 2021, the most in-custody deaths ever recorded there. Local officials expressed consternation. State representatives demanded answers. Calls for change rang out.

The next year, another 18 people died in custody. San Diego County jails, which house an average of 3,800 people per day, are among the state’s deadliest.

So far this year, 11 people have died in San Diego County jails, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

It’s not just San Diego. Six California county jail systems recorded record inmate deaths in 2022, according to California Department of Justice data dating to 2005. Solano County was one of them. Five people died in a system that houses an average of just 500 people per day.

Those numbers are alarming to advocates for incarcerated people and for state lawmakers who have struggled to adopt a statewide response to the deaths. Locally elected sheriffs manage jails, and they report to the county boards of supervisors that set their budgets.

Now a bill written by a powerful legislator from San Diego could upend California’s county jail systems by putting a “detention monitor” in jails to serve as a kind of statewide inspector general. Senate leader Toni Atkins said the bill would force sheriffs to disclose more information to the public about in-custody deaths.

At a hearing on the bill last month, Democrat Atkins said the boards of supervisors are responsible for “settling lawsuits involving in-custody jail deaths, but have limited authority in requiring the Sheriff’s Department to enact policies to reduce in-custody deaths.”

Atkins at the hearing said San Diego County has spent nearly $50 million to settle in-custody death lawsuits in just the last five years.

Her bill has two central features: the detention monitor, and a measure that would grant more public access to in-custody death reports.

California sheriffs fighting new oversight

Predictably the plan has drawn fire from law enforcement groups, who will have until the legislative session ends Sept. 14 to lobby for changes to the bill.

Atkins has already revised the bill to address some criticism. The bill as she originally submitted it would have gone much further by authorizing counties to create their own local departments of corrections, taking jails away from sheriffs. That plan fell apart after lobbying from law enforcement, Atkins said, and “as a sign of good faith” to those groups, she replaced the idea with the monitor to provide “alternative accountability.”

County sheriffs say the current version of the bill would create redundant layers of oversight in a system they say is already sufficiently policed, specifically by an agency called the California Board of State and Community Corrections.

“I think that there’s this misconception that there’s these unruly deaths that are occurring inside our jail facilities,” Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux, president of the California State Sheriffs’ Association, told CalMatters.

“But the reality of it is, we provide state-of-the-art medical attention, counseling services, social services, mental health services all up and down the state of California that’s required by the state and is also overseen by the Board of State and Community Corrections, right? So this bill really becomes a duplicate of things that really are already in place when we have a death in our jail.”

Boudreaux said jails are unfairly blamed for deaths that would have happened anyway among people with preexisting health conditions. Another problem, he said, was preventing suicides.

“You know, we don’t ever hear the data about those that we prevented from committing suicide in the hundreds,” Boudreaux said. “We’ve caught many, many people (attempting to commit) suicide and help them, many people that came in with medical conditions that they would have never received medical treatment (for) out on the streets, now are receiving medical care inside the jail.

“But the fact of the matter is, people die. And are they dying at the hands of jail staff and sheriff’s offices? No, that’s not what’s occurring.”

One attorney who often takes cases involving in-custody deaths in the Sacramento County jail system doesn’t anticipate the bill having much of an effect.

“I don’t see this streamlining things and producing a flood of, you know, useful information,” said Mark Merin, a Sacramento attorney.

Among the exemptions in the bill are that any refusal to disclose information by the jail can be challenged before a judge who has access to nonpublic information, a process called “in camera review.” That, Merin said, will drag out the disclosure process for months, or longer.

San Diego jail on the hot seat

Advocates argue the record number of deaths in counties like San Diego and Solano is a crisis and maintaining the status quo would be a clear sign that jail inmates’ lives do not matter.

In San Diego, the civilian review board that oversees the jail system has proposed handing over medical care to the county health department. That would strip the responsibility from Sheriff Kelly Martinez.

Martinez refused to speak to CalMatters about the Atkins bill, citing pending litigation.

A report commissioned by that group, the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board in San Diego, found that “elevated risk of death appears to be isolated to the unsentenced jail population.”

Indeed, of the 18 people who died in custody in San Diego County jails in 2022, 17 were awaiting trial.

The report commissioned by the civilian review board followed a February 2022 report from the state Auditor’s Office that found due to “the (San Diego) Sheriff’s Department’s inadequate response to deaths, and the lack of effective independent oversight, we believe that the Legislature must take action to ensure that the Sheriff’s Department implements meaningful changes.”

Paul Parker, the civilian review board’s executive director, testified in support of Atkins’ bill. He is trying to push for access to medical reports of in-custody deaths, something he said the civilian oversight board needs to do its job effectively.

“What we’re trying to do is get jurisdiction over the medical and mental health care providers,” Parker said. “We don’t have jurisdiction to look at what they’ve done, we can only look at what the sworn (sheriff’s department employees) have done.

“How the heck am I supposed to look at an in-custody death if I can’t look at the medical and mental health care provided to that person? I’m only getting half the story, right? Because we contend that there are probably issues with the medical and mental health care being provided, either substandard or derelict, in some way, shape or form.”

###

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.