When someone dies in a San Diego County jail, families have rights and a short deadline

If your son, daughter, husband, wife, mother or father died in a San Diego County jail, we are very sorry. Nothing in this guide can make that easier. What it can do is help you understand your rights after a death in the San Diego County jail system, and what a San Diego County jail death lawyer looks at in the first weeks.

This guide covers the Sheriff's seven jails, including San Diego Central Jail downtown and Las Colinas in Santee. It explains what state auditors, the grand jury and the county's own oversight board have found, who can be held responsible, what other families have recovered, and the deadlines that decide whether a case can be brought at all. If someone you love survived but was badly hurt in custody, most of this applies to you too.

What the records show about deaths in San Diego County jails

Facility	Seven jails, including San Diego Central Jail (men's intake), Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility (women), George Bailey, Vista, South Bay, East Mesa and Rock Mountain
Operated by	San Diego County Sheriff's Office
Location	Central Jail: 1173 Front St., San Diego. Las Colinas: 451 Riverview Pkwy., Santee
Population	Nearly 4,000 people per day (Sheriff's presentation to CLERB, 2023 figures)
Deaths in custody	2021: 18 · 2022: 18 or 19, depending on the source · 2021–2023 combined: 47 to 50, depending on the data pull · 2024: 9 (KPBS, Times of San Diego, CalMatters, 2024–25 Grand Jury)
Oversight	Citizens' Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB); Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) Director of In-Custody Death Review; federal class action Dunsmore v. San Diego County Sheriff's Dept.

In February 2022, the California State Auditor reported that 185 people died in San Diego County jails from 2006 to 2020. That was the second-highest count in the state, behind only the much larger Los Angeles County system. After adjusting for population and bookings, the auditor found San Diego's death rate was among the highest of California's 15 largest counties. The auditor also counted 52 suicides in that period, more than in any comparable county.

The numbers rose after the audit. KPBS reported, citing state Justice Department data, that 18 people died in 2021, then a record. Sources differ on 2022: KPBS reported 18 and Times of San Diego reported 19. For 2021 through 2023 combined, CalMatters counted 47 and the 2024–25 San Diego County Grand Jury counted 50. The grand jury reported 9 deaths in 2024 and 247 since 2006, through April 24, 2025. The Sheriff said 2024 had the fewest deaths in more than a decade and no suicides, according to Times of San Diego. Deaths have continued since then, so these counts are as of October 2026.

A study commissioned by CLERB, the county's civilian oversight board, and released in April 2026 looked at about 12 years of jail deaths. As Times of San Diego reported, it counted 179 deaths. From December 2011 to April 2024, 91 people died at Central Jail, about half of the total, and 25 at George Bailey. Of 15 homicides, 12 were at Central Jail. Central Jail and Vista, the two main booking jails, had the highest death rates, and the study put Central Jail's rate at nearly twice Vista's. Suicides and accidental deaths, which at booking jails usually means overdoses or withdrawal, were most likely in the first two days after booking. People who had more visitors appeared less likely to die. The report also noted that a lack of compliance by the Sheriff's Office limited the data available.

What usually goes wrong in San Diego jails

The State Auditor's 2022 report described problems that families still raise today:

• Intake screening. Mental health screening at booking was done by registered nurses rather than mental health professionals. At least five people died within four days of arrest.
• Safety checks. Deputies sometimes looked into a cell for one second or less. Some people were found dead hours after their last check, and policy did not require deputies to confirm the person was alive.
• Emergency response. CPR was sometimes delayed or not started.
• Follow-up care and reviews. Medical follow-up was inconsistent, and most required 30-day death reviews were not documented.

The auditor made 18 recommendations. According to the auditor's own tracker, 12 have been carried out, but the Legislature has taken no action on 5. More recently, the 2024–25 Grand Jury found that face-to-face medical or mental health interviews were completed within 24 hours only 75% to 85% of the time.

The family lawsuits tell a similar story. They describe untreated drug withdrawal, people left in medical observation instead of being sent to a hospital, missed safety checks, and people with serious mental illness who were not eating or drinking. In one case, the Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide caused by pneumonia, malnutrition and dehydration, as Courthouse News reported. Fentanyl is a growing factor as well. If an overdose is involved, our guide to fentanyl and overdose deaths in jail explains how those cases work.

Changes since the audit

In 2022 Governor Newsom vetoed AB 2343, which would have written the auditor's care standards into law. In October 2023 he signed SB 519. It created a statewide Director of In-Custody Death Review at the BSCC, with medical and mental health staff. The Director reviews county jail deaths and makes recommendations. The sheriff must respond within 90 days, and both are public records.

A federal class action, Dunsmore v. San Diego County Sheriff's Department, is also pushing for change. A disability settlement received final approval in August 2025, a mental health settlement in July 2026, and a medical and dental settlement received preliminary approval in June 2026. Other claims about safety and substance use are still unresolved. These reforms do not replace an individual family's case. They can, however, be strong evidence of what the county knew.

Who can be held responsible for a death in custody?

Several people and organizations may share responsibility. For a plain overview of when a family has a case, see can you sue if someone dies in jail in California.

• The County of San Diego and the Sheriff's Office. Under federal civil-rights law, the county can be liable when its own policies, customs or failures to train led to the death. Audit findings and repeated past deaths can help show a pattern.
• Individual deputies, nurses and doctors. Staff who knew a person was in danger and did not act may be named personally.
• Contracted medical providers. In the Serna case, the county's contracted medical provider paid part of the settlement. Private companies are not covered by the county's six-month claim rule, but they have their own deadlines.

A person held before trial has rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. A person serving a sentence has rights under the Eighth Amendment. In both, the core question is generally whether staff ignored a serious risk to health or safety.

Recent settlements and verdicts

These are reported results in San Diego County jail cases brought by families and by one woman who survived. They were obtained by other law firms, not by LaCour.

The Schuck settlement is believed to be the largest wrongful death settlement in county history, and the county paid about $30 million for the two deaths in two years, Times of San Diego reported. Other families have cases pending. The family of Callen Lines, who died at Las Colinas, filed a federal lawsuit in early 2026 alleging untreated withdrawal and ignored intercom calls.

Every case is different. Past results, including those listed here, do not predict the outcome of any other case. For more reported results from across the state, see our list of jail death settlements and verdicts in California, and for the factors that drive the value of a claim, read how much a jail death lawsuit is worth.

Hurt in custody, not killed?

Many people leave a San Diego County jail alive but badly hurt: injured by deputies, cut off from prescribed medicine, or left without care while sick. Tanya Suarez's case shows that a person who survives can also bring a claim. The same six-month claim deadline applies to injuries.

Our guides explain what to do if someone was beaten by deputies in jail, denied medication in jail, or harmed by medical neglect and deliberate indifference. You can also ask us for a free, confidential review.

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

This is the part families most often miss.

• Six months for the government claim. State-law claims against the county, such as wrongful death, negligence or a Bane Act claim, require a written government claim presented within six months of the death (Government Code § 911.2). In San Diego, that claim goes to the Office of County Counsel, Claims and Investigation Division, 1600 Pacific Highway, Room 335, by mail or in person. Faxes are not accepted.
• After a rejection. If the county rejects the claim in writing, you generally have six months from that notice to file suit.
• Late claims. Relief for a late claim is narrow, and the application must be made within one year. Families lose state claims by waiting.
• Federal civil-rights claims. A claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 does not need a government claim first, and in California the deadline is generally two years.

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

What to do in the first weeks

Our longer checklist on what to do when a loved one dies in jail walks through each step. The most important ones in San Diego:

1. Request the autopsy report from the San Diego County Medical Examiner, 5570 Overland Ave., Suite 101. Ask whether the cause of death is final or still pending.
2. Do not sign anything from the county, the Sheriff's Office or a medical contractor before talking with a lawyer.
3. Write down names, dates and times: who called you, what they said, when your loved one was booked and moved.
4. Keep every letter, voicemail, text and jail call record. Save the jail account and visit history if you can.
5. Do not delete your loved one's social media or phone. Save screenshots.
6. Look for a CLERB case and a Sheriff's news release about the death, and keep copies.
7. Talk to a lawyer well before the six-month mark. We send preservation letters right away for video, safety-check logs, intercom records and medical records, because jails do not keep everything forever.

How LaCour handles jail death cases in San Diego

LaCour Trial Lawyers is a trial firm, and a partner leads every in-custody death case. Our practice is statewide. Our nearest offices to San Diego are in Irvine and Riverside, and our lawyers travel to meet families at home. We have Spanish-speaking lawyers and staff, and you pay no fee unless there is a recovery. Learn more about our work on police misconduct and wrongful death in custody, or read our guides to Orange County jail deaths, deaths in ICE detention, including Otay Mesa, and the California jails and prisons hub. When you are ready, ask for 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.