Board of Supervisors Approves Hahn’s Sweeping Accountability Plan to Reduce Jail Deaths
March 3, 2026
Los Angeles, CA — Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive proposal authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn aimed at reducing deaths in Los Angeles County jails through stronger accountability, improved safety practices, and increased transparency across multiple County departments.
“As long as people are in our custody, they are on our care, and we have a duty to protect their lives,” said Supervisor Hahn. “This effort is about increasing accountability, acting with urgency, and doing better—now.”
Supervisors Hahn, Solis, Mitchell, and Horvath approved the motion, with Barger abstaining.
Hahn’s motion comes after an alarming increase in deaths in county custody. In the first two months of 2026, ten people died in LA County jails—following a devastating 2025 in which 45 people died in County jails.
The approved motion builds on a previous motion Hahn authored in 2025 and responds to resulting findings from reports and presentations by the Sheriff’s Department, County health agencies, and oversight bodies about persistent systemic failures despite prior reforms.
The motion requests that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department:
- Ensure screening of everyone—including staff—entering jail facilities to reduce drug inflow
- Improve and randomize safety checks with greater supervisor oversight
- Increase use and reliability of cameras and surveillance
- Ensure easy access to and availability of Naloxone throughout jail facilities
- Ensure people in custody can readily access grievance and medical request forms
- Increase transparency with the public by adding facility names to the LASD In-Custody Death Dashboard.
- Establish ongoing monitoring and independent review for accountability
The motion directs Correctional Health Services to:
- Report back on options to improve the Medication Assisted Treatment to reduce overdose deaths
- Identify best practices to prevent substance-use-related fatalities
- Ensure emergency medical equipment, including defibrillators, is functional and available
- Increase reporting, transparency, and timeliness of compassionate release efforts
- Strengthen death review processes and track corrective actions
- Improve access to medical request forms and reduce delays in care
- Seek funding for electronic health requests, appointment tracking, and unmet treatment needs
- Review suicide prevention and court notification procedures
- Explore how using outside experts will assist in evaluating and identifying deaths in custody trends and recommend further reforms
Other reforms in the motion include quarterly reports from the Office of the Inspector General on the Medication Assisted Treatment program and an audit by the Auditor-Controller.
In the motion, Supervisor Hahn emphasized that the human toll of in-custody deaths is compounded by a significant financial cost to taxpayers. Over the past five years, Los Angeles County has spent millions on settlements and judgments related to deaths in custody—funds that could otherwise support prevention, housing, healthcare, and social services.
The motion requests that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and directs that Department of Health Services’ Correctional Health Services, Office of Inspector General, Auditor-Controller, Medical Examiner, and other departments implement reforms within 120 days and report back publicly on progress, funding needs, and staffing requirements.