San Diego County supervisors voted Tuesday to move forward with the prospect of creating new oversight of the San Diego Sheriff’s Office and its sprawling network of jails.
The decision came after a Board of Supervisors hearing that included both pleas from residents to do more to monitor the sheriff and a warning from Sheriff Kelly Martinez that more oversight was unnecessary and a waste of public resources.
“We have record low crime rates in San Diego sheriff’s jurisdiction, reductions in violent crime, (in) deputy-involved shootings, fewer in-custody deaths and unprecedented hiring and retention of staff,” she said. “None of these improvements are by accident.”
The plan proposed by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe would create an Office of Inspector General that would monitor conditions in county jails with an eye on improvement. The office would also have the authority to conduct audits, review Sheriff’s Office internal investigations and make policy recommendations.
Under the motion approved Tuesday, supervisors instructed Chief Administrative Officer Ebony Shelton to work with county attorneys to assess the feasibility of forming an independent oversight office and report back in four months with an implementation plan and legal framework.
If enacted as proposed, the Office of Inspector General would be empowered to investigate whatever incidents or complaints it chooses. The office would be managed by an attorney and report directly to the county Board of Supervisors.
The independent oversight would complement that provided by the existing Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board.
Known as CLERB, the review board employs a professional staff of investigators who look into jail deaths, officer-involved shootings and other complaints. But its purview is limited.
“CLERB can only begin an investigation upon a citizen’s complaint or in-custody death,” Montgomery Steppe said Tuesday. “An Office of Inspector General, however, would have the ability to perform an investigation on its own initiative.”
More than 250 people have died in county jails since 2006. Dozens of lawsuits — which have already resulted in tens of millions of dollars in legal settlements — suggest many of their deaths could have been prevented.
Numerous people at the Tuesday meeting spoke in support of more oversight of law enforcement.
Retired Sheriff’s Commander Dave Myers, who ran for sheriff against Martinez in 2022, said the proposal was “long overdue to restore integrity and accountability.”
“San Diego County can no longer rely on internal Sheriff’s Office assurances or reactive investigations,” he said.
Under the model proposed by Montgomery Steppe, the Office of Inspector General would be required to regularly communicate with the public, the Board of Supervisors, CLERB and the elected sheriff through quarterly reports.
Those quarterly reports would include information about the number and outcome of complaints and investigations, as well as trends and findings of misconduct, policy violations and criminality.
The OIG would be granted subpoena power, meaning it could seek documents, testimony and other information when directed to do so by the Board of Supervisors or CLERB.
The OIG also would be charged with referring evidence of criminal conduct by sheriff’s employees to prosecutors at the District Attorney’s Office or the state Attorney General’s Office.
In voting to proceed with creating the office, Montgomery Steppe and other supervisors in the majority said they felt obliged to do something to curb the number of jail deaths and misconduct allegations.
“I believe that law enforcement has an important function in our community,” Montgomery Steppe said, “but what I couple that with is accountability.”
Supervisor Jim Desmond acknowledged that too many people were dying in jail, but argued that instead of more oversight, the county should invest in more deputies, nurses and mental health treatment beds.
“We heard from the sheriff today what she needs, it’s certainly not more oversight,” he said.
It’s not yet clear whether the OIG would be a single person or a new county department with a related support staff and budget. Those details are expected to be included in the evaluation report that county staff are expected to provide early next year.
Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 6:41 PM PDT