Local & Community
Newsom Signs Bill Separating Riverside County Coroner From Sheriff's Department
Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is no longer the county's coroner after Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1379, a law that changes how deaths in Riverside County will be investigated.
The law requires the county to separate the coroner's office from the sheriff's department, giving the Riverside County Board of Supervisors until July 1, 2027, to set up an independent medical examiner's office. Supporters say the change removes a conflict of interest when the sheriff's own department investigates deaths that happen in its jails.
For Lisa Matus, the bill is personal. Her son, Richard, died in custody in 2022, and she says the information she was given about his death didn't match his autopsy. She advocated for the bill's passage.
"It just means so much. It means so much to myself, to my family, and to the many, many, many families that have gone through the same thing," Matus said.
Matus says what she wants most is to be able to believe what families are told. "Trust, accountability, and transparency," she said. "We don't have to look at something and say, is this really what happened?"
State Senator Sabrina Cervantes wrote the bill and campaigned for it. She expressed gratitude and pride that it passed, saying it supports mothers like Matus. "This is a victory for accountability, transparency, and for families who have fought hard to be heard," Cervantes said.
However, Sheriff Bianco strongly opposed the bill, calling it "partisan politics at its absolute worst." He said the county is "worse off today than we were yesterday" and blamed what he called a "disingenuous campaign."
Matus disagrees, saying the issue reflects a larger pattern in the county and crosses party lines. "These lives are not political," she said, adding that Democrats, Republicans and independents all pushed for the same goal of "truth and accountability and transparency."
Bianco pushed back directly on that point. "Any death is bad," he said. "But going to jail does not prevent you from dying. No one has died because they were in jail. They have died while they are in jail." He also said death investigations from the Coroner's Bureau are already handled by someone outside Riverside County, calling the bill "based on a lie."
The Matus family filed a wrongful death lawsuit where a federal jury unanimously ruled in their favor. Lisa says she hopes this bill goes into full effect quickly, so no other family faces the same challenges her family did.
By: Maria Noble Valdez
October 2, 2026
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