Losing someone in a Riverside County jail: your family's rights and deadlines

If your child, spouse, parent or sibling died in a Riverside County jail, we are sorry. Losing someone this way brings grief and a lot of unanswered questions at once. This guide explains what happens after a death in the Riverside County jail system, what public investigations have found, and what a Riverside County jail death lawyer will want to secure quickly.

It covers the Sheriff's jails, including the Robert Presley Detention Center in downtown Riverside, the Cois M. Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning and the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio. You will find the death record, the Attorney General's investigation, the 2026 grand jury report, the new state law that takes the coroner's job away from the Sheriff, and the deadlines that decide whether your family can bring a claim.

What the records show about deaths in Riverside County jails

Facility	Robert Presley Detention Center; Cois M. Byrd Detention Center (formerly Southwest Detention Center); Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility; John J. Benoit Detention Center; Blythe Jail
Operated by	Riverside County Sheriff's Office
Location	Presley: 4000 Orange St., Riverside. Byrd: 30755-B Auld Rd., Murrieta. Smith: 1627 S. Hargrave St., Banning. Benoit: 82675 Hwy. 111, Indio
Deaths in custody	2005–2021: 120 total, prior yearly high of 12 · 2022: 18 or 19, depending on the source · March 2023 to April 2026: 29 (Riverside County Civil Grand Jury)
Oversight	California Attorney General civil-rights investigation (opened February 2023); court consent decree on jail medical and mental health care; no civilian oversight body as of May 2026

For years, Riverside County averaged about seven jail deaths a year, with 120 deaths from 2005 to 2021 and a previous high of 12 in both 2015 and 2020, according to Prison Legal News and ABC7. Then 2022 brought 18 or 19 deaths, depending on the source, the most in at least 15 years. LAist, Prison Legal News, ABC7 and the grand jury report 18. KVCR and MindSite News, citing state data, report 19.

The deaths did not stop. The 2025–26 Riverside County Civil Grand Jury counted 29 in-custody deaths from March 2023 through late April 2026. CalMatters counted 45 deaths from the start of 2021 through March 2024. According to NBC Palm Springs, Riverside County has about 6% of California's population but about 10% of the state's in-custody deaths. These counts are as of October 2026, and the Sheriff's Office continues to post new death notices.

What usually goes wrong in Riverside jails

In 2022, the record year, Prison Legal News reported 5 overdoses, 2 suicides, 2 homicides and 1 accident, with the rest listed as natural. In August 2022, the Sheriff said about one-third of that year's deaths up to that point were fentanyl-related, ABC7 reported. The Sheriff's own death notices since then include people killed by other people in custody, apparent suicides at Robert Presley, and deaths from illness.

The grand jury looked at the whole system. It found that the deaths reflect systemic problems in intake, staffing, access to health care, supervision and emergency response. It also found that the department's internal death reviews lack independence. Families' lawsuits describe the same kinds of failures: people not protected from violent cellmates and medical emergencies that went unanswered. If drugs played a part, our guide to fentanyl and overdose deaths in jail explains what to look for.

The Attorney General investigation, the grand jury and SB 1379

On February 23, 2023, Attorney General Rob Bonta opened a civil-rights investigation into the Sheriff's Office. It covers conditions of confinement in the jails, excessive force and other misconduct. As of the grand jury's May 2026 report, there was no final public report, and we have found no public outcome since.

The grand jury, in its report dated May 7, 2026, noted that the county had not created civilian oversight of the Sheriff. It recommended an independent oversight body with subpoena power, an independent review of every death, and a public dashboard updated every quarter.

The state then acted. Under SB 1379, signed this fall, Riverside County must separate the coroner's office from the Sheriff and create an independent Medical Examiner by July 1, 2027, according to the Davis Vanguard and NBC Palm Springs. The law also requires:

• a first public report on an in-custody death within 24 hours, and a preliminary report within 72 hours;
• a public database of deaths by jail, cause and medical response time; and
• telling the family the cause of death within 72 hours after it is determined.

Until the new office opens, the Sheriff-Coroner still handles deaths. Since March 2024, though, autopsies of people who die in Sheriff's custody have been sent to coroners in other counties, Prison Legal News reported. The jails have also been under a court consent decree on medical and mental health care since 2014 or 2015, depending on the source.

Who can be held responsible?

• The County of Riverside. Under federal civil-rights law (42 U.S.C. § 1983), the county can be liable when its policies, customs or training failures caused the death. The grand jury's findings and the long death record can help show what the county knew.
• Individual deputies and medical staff. Those who saw a serious risk and did not respond may be personally liable.
• Private medical contractors, if any provided the care. They are not covered by the six-month government claim rule but have their own deadlines.

For a person awaiting trial, these claims generally arise under the Fourteenth Amendment. For a person serving a sentence, they arise under the Eighth Amendment. Our guide to whether you can sue if someone dies in jail in California explains these claims, and our page on Riverside County Sheriff's misconduct covers force and other cases outside the jails.

Recent settlements and verdicts

These are reported results in Riverside County jail death cases brought by families. They were obtained by other law firms, not by LaCour.

The Matus figures are often misreported. The jury's total award was $13.5 million. Because jurors also found Mr. Matus partly responsible, the county's share is $5.4 million, the county said. The Sheriff's Department said it was disappointed with the verdict, NBC Palm Springs reported.

Several other families filed federal lawsuits over deaths in 2022 and 2023, including deaths caused by other people in custody, according to Prison Legal News. Across all cases, Riverside County paid nearly $100 million in in-custody death settlements from 2014 to 2024, according to figures cited by the Davis Vanguard and NBC Palm Springs. Every case is different. Past results, including those listed here, do not predict the outcome of any other case.

See our list of jail death settlements and verdicts in California for results in other counties, and how much a jail death lawsuit is worth for the factors that drive the value of a case, including how shared fault can reduce an award.

Hurt in custody, not killed?

Not every serious harm in a Riverside County jail ends in death. People are injured in force incidents, go without needed medicine, or get sick while staff ignore their requests for help. Those people can bring claims too, and the six-month claim deadline applies to injuries as well.

Our guides cover being beaten by deputies in jail, being denied medication in jail, and medical neglect and deliberate indifference. To talk with us, ask for a free, confidential review.

How long do you have to file a claim against Riverside County?

• Six months. For state-law claims such as wrongful death, negligence or the Bane Act, a written claim must be presented to the county within six months of the death (Government Code § 911.2). In Riverside County, it goes to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, Attn: Claims Division, P.O. Box 1147, 4080 Lemon Street, Riverside, CA 92502-1147. Mail or hand-deliver it. Fax and email are not accepted.
• After a rejection. Generally, you then have six months from the written rejection to file suit.
• Late claims. You can ask to file late only within one year, and only on narrow grounds. Families lose state claims by waiting.
• Federal claims. A § 1983 civil-rights case needs no government claim and generally must be filed within two years in California.

The estate can bring a survival claim. In federal civil-rights cases, federal courts in California have allowed the estate to recover for the person's own suffering in some cases. A spouse and children can bring a wrongful death claim, and in some situations parents or others who depended on the person can too.

What to do in the first weeks

Our checklist on what to do when a loved one dies in jail goes step by step. In Riverside County, start here:

1. Contact the Sheriff's Coroner's Bureau (Perris for western Riverside County, Indio for the east) and ask for the autopsy and toxicology reports, and where the autopsy was done.
2. Do not sign anything from the county, the Sheriff's Office or a medical company until you have talked with a lawyer.
3. Write down names, dates and every conversation, including which jail your loved one was in and when they were moved.
4. Keep letters, voicemails, texts and jail call records.
5. Do not close or delete your loved one's phone or social media.
6. Save the Sheriff's in-custody death press release.
7. Talk to a lawyer before the six-month mark. We send preservation letters for video, cell-check logs and medical records right away.

How LaCour handles Riverside County jail cases

LaCour Trial Lawyers has an office in Riverside and handles in-custody death cases throughout California. A partner leads each case, and we build every case to go to trial. We have Spanish-speaking lawyers and staff, and we charge no fee unless there is a recovery. Learn more about our police misconduct and wrongful death in custody practice, see our guides to West Valley Detention Center deaths in San Bernardino County and Orange County jail deaths, or visit the California jails and prisons hub. To talk with us, request a free, confidential review.

Frequently asked questions

This guide is general information about California and federal law and about public records as of its date. It is not legal advice, and reading it or contacting us does not create an attorney–client relationship. Allegations in lawsuits are claims, not findings. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Attorney advertising.