The deaths of 9 inmates prompt a re-examination of conditions at the LA County Jail

So far this year, nine people have died in LA County jails, which is a shocking number for the Sheriff’s Department as it continues to face a lawsuit from the state regarding the conditions of the closure.

Sheriff’s Department officials said they are continuing to make changes, hoping to reduce the number of deaths in custody and care for inmates who continue to struggle with health and mental health.

“Every time I’m told that someone I care for has died, it’s like being kicked in the cradle,” said Sheriff Robert Luna during a brief interview. “It’s not what you want to hear.”

Seven inmates died in January, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and two more have died so far in February. The causes of death for all nine are pending autopsy reports.

The rate is in line with 2025, where nine deaths were reported at the end of February, leading to 46 deaths in custody this year. In 2024, the Sheriff’s Department reported 32 deaths.

“It hasn’t started well yet,” said Luna.

The Sheriff’s Civilian Oversight Commission will investigate the Department of Behavioral Health at its next meeting, specifically the eight suicides and 10 drug-related deaths that occurred in 2025, said Hans Johnson, who chairs the commission.

Department of Corrections officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The Sheriff’s Department is already taking the initiative to use body-worn cameras on deputies inside jails, and has made physical changes to its detention center in hopes of improving the chances of noticing when someone with medical or mental conditions is booked.

The number of inmate deaths comes as the Sheriff’s Department faces questions about whether inmates are receiving timely and appropriate care.

In September 2025, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta sued the Sheriff’s Department saying, according to the federal complaint, inmates are “forced to live in filthy cells with broken and overflowing toilets, infested with rats and pigs, and no clean water for drinking or bathing.”

State officials say the conditions violate prisoners’ constitutional rights and may be responsible for the high death rate in custody.

“Lack of access to care contributes to an alarming rate of preventable deaths in custody, such as suicide,” according to a statement issued by Bonta’s office when the case was filed.

“Instead of addressing the root causes or devoting resources to solving self-admitted violations of state and federal law, the county and LASD have continued to resist oversight and accountability, spending millions of dollars to defend and solve cases of abuse in prisons over the years, without making the necessary changes in their operations and policies and undermining the effectiveness of independent and private agencies.”

According to Bonta’s complaint, inmates do not have regular access to mental health care and treatment, leading to “an alarming number of deaths inside prisons, most of which are caused by preventable conditions, such as drug overdose, suicide, or inter-prison violence.”

According to Sheriff’s Department data, half of the 46 deaths recorded in county jails last year were natural.

Sheriff’s Assistant Hugo Macias, chief of the custodial services division, said each death receives an immediate, multiagency review within the first 48 hours.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna meets with deputies before Christmas Mass at the 2023 Men’s Central Jail.

(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)

Deaths in custody are also reviewed by other outside agencies, including the Office of the Inspector General and the US Department of Justice, the Citizens’ Watch Commission, and the American Civil Liberties Union.

“They have this information, and there is a lot of frustration when it comes to these numbers,” said Luna.

Part of the challenge, Luna said, is that the department has been seeing booked people who are unwell, elderly, dealing with chronic medical conditions, and in need of mental health assistance.

According to the Sheriff’s Department, the prison population has increased to approximately 13,500 inmates since October 2025, which is the highest number the facility has seen since May 2023. The Department of Correctional Health also recorded more than 40,000 patient contacts in one month.

About 82% of those incarcerated have also been diagnosed with at least one mental or health problem, according to the Sheriff’s Department, citing data from the Correctional Health Services.

“The population we’re seeing has really changed, not only are we getting sicker, our rehabilitation life is getting more work,” Luna said.

According to Macias, about 22% of inmates needed mental health care in 2015. Today, about 49 percent of people have been diagnosed with mental health problems.

On Tuesday, the Sheriff’s Department announced a renovated mental health screening facility at the Inmate Reception Center, the county’s primary inmate reception and release facility, located next to the Men’s Central Jail.

According to the department, more than 50,000 bookings took place there by 2025, each of which received a mental and health assessment.

The prepared environment provides more privacy during the test to help identify problems early, Luna said.

Although there are challenges, Luna said the department has many improvement plans and is looking forward to dealing with the allegations made by Bonta’s office.

“We will be able to show any judge the path we were on,” said Luna. “We’ve done more in the last three years than we’ve done in decades.”

Luna proposed a county correctional facility, modeled after a public hospital system, that would protect inmates but also be built specifically to provide medical services to the “medically vulnerable” in the system.

But the department is still struggling with its prison management system, which Luna described as “outdated” and lacking the use of technology found in other detention systems.

Starting in October, deputies at three facilities, including the Inmate Reception Center, Men’s Central Jail and Twin Towers Correctional Facility, began wearing body cameras. Almost half of the deputies assigned to those areas are already wearing the gear, said Macias, and the Department is busy transferring them to its other three prisons.

About 1,800 body cameras were used.

The department is looking to pilot programs, such as monitoring the vital organs of some inmates in real time, Luna said.

“It’s not a lack of desire — it’s the budget,” Luna said.