California
AB 1185 (Cal. Gov. Code § 25303.7), enacted in 2020 and effective January 1, 2021, permits each county's Board of Supervisors to establish a civilian oversight board for its sheriff, an inspector general, or both — by ordinance or by voter initiative. The statute expressly grants those bodies subpoena power and the authority to issue public reports, settling longstanding legal uncertainty about whether locally created oversight bodies could compel testimony or documents from a sheriff's office.
AB 1185 is enabling, not mandatory: each Board of Supervisors retains full discretion over whether to establish a body, what investigative scope to give it, how to fund it, and how to staff it. The table below tracks which California counties have acted, the year each body was founded, and the structural-independence and law-enforcement-capability scores from our methodology.
Data from CA State Controller's Office and CA State Sheriffs' Association.
About the California Civil Grand Jury
Since California's first state constitution in 1849, every county has had a Civil Grand Jury — now mandated by Cal. Const. art. I § 23 and Penal Code §§ 888–945. The Civil Grand Jury is not a dedicated sheriff oversight body — its jurisdiction covers all of county government, and its jurors serve a single one-year term — but it does have specific statutory authority to examine the sheriff: Penal Code § 919(b) requires each jury to inquire annually into "the condition and management of the public prisons within the county," which include the jails operated by the sheriff. The jury also has subpoena power (Penal Code § 939), and the sheriff is required to respond in writing to every finding directed at the office.
In counties without an AB 1185 oversight body, the Civil Grand Jury is the only standing civilian body with statutory authority to examine county jail operations. Integration of Civil Grand Jury reports into individual county pages on this site is in progress.
Look at all California Civil Grand Jury reports at civilgrandjury.org, an UnGovr companion site, or click on a county below to see the relevant reports for sheriff oversight by county.
How a Civil Grand Jury compares to an AB 1185 civilian oversight body
Both can examine a California sheriff's office. They are structured differently and serve different oversight roles.
| Attribute | AB 1185 oversight body | Civil Grand Jury |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory basis | Cal. Gov. Code §25303.7 (enacted 2020) | Cal. Const. art. I §23; Penal Code §§888–945 (continuously since 1880) |
| Required in every county | Optional. The board of supervisors chooses whether to establish one | Yes. Every CA county convenes a jury each year |
| CA coverage | 9 of 58 counties have a dedicated body | All 58 counties, every year, for over 140 years |
| Focus | The sheriff's office | All county government; the sheriff is one of many possible subjects each year |
| Membership | Appointed by the board of supervisors; may include staff with law-enforcement or investigative expertise | 19 citizen volunteers drawn from the general public; selected by the superior court and rotated annually |
| Continuity | Permanent body with paid staff, so it can track multi-year issues and build institutional memory | New jury each fiscal year; staff support is limited |
| Subpoena power | Yes, if granted by the board of supervisors (§25303.7) | Yes, by statute (Penal Code §939) |
| Individual cases | Often yes by design. May review specific incidents and complaints depending on the ordinance establishing the body | No. Investigates systemic patterns and practices, not individual incidents |
| Cadence | Ongoing; can respond as issues arise | Multiple reports per one-year term, each on a discrete topic the jury chooses (e.g. a particular death in custody, jail conditions, use-of-force policy), published when that investigation concludes (Penal Code §933(a)) |
| Sheriff response | Varies by the ordinance establishing the body | Sheriff must respond in writing within 90 days; Board of Supervisors within 60 days (Penal Code §933) |
Counties
| # | County | Status (date) | Started (date) | LE capability | Independence | Depth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Los Angeles | Active 10 years | 2016 | 26/40 | 65/100 | 22/30 | |
| 02 | Marin | Active 2 years | 2024 | 34/40 | 65/100 | 19/30 | |
| 03 | Orange | Active 18 years | 2008 | 4/40 | 34/100 | 7/30 | |
| 04 | Sacramento | Active 11 years | 2015 | 16/40 | 45/100 | 17/30 | |
| 05 | San Diego | Active 36 years | 1990 | 34/40 | 53/100 | 19/30 | |
| 06 | San Francisco | Active 6 years | 2020 | 34/40 | 67/100 | 23/30 | |
| 07 | Santa Clara | Active 8 years | 2018 | 21/40 | 60/100 | 11/30 | |
| 08 | Santa Cruz | Active 4 years | 2022 | 9/40 | 58/100 | 10/30 | |
| 09 | Sonoma | Active 10 years | 2016 | 29/40 | 64/100 | 20/30 | |
| 10 | Alameda | Pending 2024-09-17 | — | — | — | — | |
| 11 | Contra Costa | Declined 2022-08-09 | — | — | — | — | |
| 12 | Humboldt | Pending 2026-05-12 | Est. 2026-09-01 | — | — | — | |
| 13 | Kern | Discussed 2020-10-01 | — | — | — | — | |
| 14 | Monterey | Study session 2023-07-26 | — | — | — | — | |
| 15 | Riverside | Declined 2025-07-29 | — | — | — | — | |
| 16 | San Bernardino | Discussed 2020-06-23 | — | — | — | — | |
| 17 | San Mateo | Discussed 2022-11-01 | — | — | — | — | |
| 18 | Santa Barbara | Declined 2026-04-24 | — | — | — | — | |
| 19 | Solano | Declined 2021-11-03 | — | — | — | — | |
| 20 | Stanislaus | Declined 2025-09-09 | — | — | — | — | |
| 21 | Tehama | Discussed 2025-07-03 | — | — | — | — | |
| 22 | Ventura | Discussed 2020-11-10 | — | — | — | — |
No record found · 36 counties
- Alpine
- Amador
- Butte
- Calaveras
- Colusa
- Del Norte
- El Dorado
- Fresno
- Glenn
- Imperial
- Inyo
- Kings
- Lake
- Lassen
- Madera
- Mariposa
- Mendocino
- Merced
- Modoc
- Mono
- Napa
- Nevada
- Placer
- Plumas
- San Benito
- San Joaquin
- San Luis Obispo
- Shasta
- Sierra
- Siskiyou
- Sutter
- Trinity
- Tulare
- Tuolumne
- Yolo
- Yuba