Santa Barbara Grand Jury Probes Myriad Problems Around County
This Year’s Final Reports Include Investigations
into In-Custody Deaths and Mental-Health Issues,
Cybersecurity in School,
and Water District’s Lack of Transparency
by Jack Magargee | August 18, 2023
Every year, Santa Barbara County’s Civil Grand Jury releases its final reports to the public, with evaluations and recommendations for several county agencies stemming from investigations over the previous year. In 2023, these reports included investigations into deaths and problems with mental-health resources in Santa Barbara County jails, issues with cybersecurity in area schools, and a lack of transparency with the Santa Maria Valley Water Conservation District.
This week, the Independent breaks down the 2022-2023 Grand Jury Final Reports, which are also available in full online here.
‘Every Death in Custody Is a Failure’
In July 2021, a Santa Maria man died by suicide while in custody at the Santa Barbara County Main Jail. According to the grand jury report, 35-year-old Kean Ardie San Juan Pinon (identified as “KP” in the report) hung himself in his jail cell just one day after his cellmate’s attempted suicide. The investigation discovered that Pinon had been rehoused in the same cell, alone, where he had watched his cellmate’s failed suicide attempt.
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