Existing law mandates that when a person in custody dies, the agency must post specified information, including the date of death, the decedent’s age, race, and gender, on its website within 10 days of the death.
Assembly Bill 2531 (AB 2531) clarifies that this requirement applies to juveniles as well as adults who die in custody.
Under existing law, an agency must also update the posting within 30 days if any information regarding the death changes. AB 2531 clarifies that the information that must be updated includes the manner and means of death, and the date on which the death occurred (once it has been determined by a medical examiner or similar entity) within 30 days of the change.
The term “in-custody death” was previously undefined in the statute; AB 2531 defines it as the death of a person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcerated at a municipal or county jail, state prison, state-run boot camp prison, boot camp prison that is contracted out by the state, any state or local contract facility, or other local or state correctional facility, including any juvenile facility. It also includes deaths that occur in medical facilities while in law-enforcement custody.
(AB 2531 amends section 10008 of the Penal Code.)