Newly proposed state legislation seeks to separate the Riverside County Sheriff’s and Coroner’s offices in order to eliminate potential conflicts of interest regarding in-custody death investigations.
According to Senate Bill 1379, which was introduced by Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), medicolegal death investigation services would be transferred to a newly established medical examiner’s office. It was recently approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
“This bill would require the board of supervisors for the County of Riverside to separate the offices of sheriff and coroner, abolish the office of coroner, and provide for the office of medical examiner … by July 1, 2027,” the bill’s text says. “The bill would prohibit a person other than the county’s medical examiner from signing specified documents.”…