FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) — Fresno County says it has fulfilled the requirements of a 2015 consent decree governing conditions and care in the Fresno County Jail, citing more than $300 million in spending since the agreement took effect.
In a letter to the Prison Law Office dated May 27, 2026, the county formally stated its position that the consent decree is finished and that it is meeting or exceeding the decree’s requirements.
The consent decree was established in 2015 to resolve a class action lawsuit, Hall v. Fresno County, brought on behalf of people incarcerated in the county jail.
The agreement was intended to ensure the county’s jail facilities, medical care, mental health services, and inmate safety practices met minimum standards under the U.S. Constitution and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The county said it has invested significant time, attention, and resources since 2015 to improve constitutionally compliant health and mental health care.
It also said costs for contracted medical and behavioral health services through its contracted medical provider, CFMG/WellPath, have increased dramatically, with the 2026 fiscal year contract totaling $42 million.
The county said that despite meeting or exceeding consent decree requirements, the Prison Law Office is “demanding more with no clear end in sight,” and that “shifting and often inconsistent demands” by the Prison Law Office and similar law firms have created what it called an unfair and unsustainable burden on counties.
The county also pointed to reductions in federal and state funding that it said are vital for public safety, agriculture, disaster prevention and response, and human and health services for law-abiding residents.
It said the jail has met, and in many areas exceeded, obligations outlined in the consent decree and its remedial plan provisions, but that the Prison Law Office still alleges the county is failing to comply with its legal obligations.
“It’s outrageous the County faces such allegations when it has gone above and beyond its duty to provide high quality medical treatment and services to its jail inmate population. Ironically, the State’s realignment in AB 109 placed the burden on our law-abiding taxpayers by transferring thousands of felony-convicted inmates from State prisons to county jails that were designed for short-term stays and low-level offenders,” said Fresno County Board of Supervisors Chairman Garry Bredefeld. “Despite the State’s shift to counties, Fresno County has gone above and beyond what is constitutionally required.”