Print The San Diego County Democratic Party is formally calling on its representatives in the California Legislature to request an independent investigation into deaths inside San Diego County jails. Party members passed a resolution last week requesting local senators and assembly members introduce a measure requiring the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to examine the jail-mortality rate since 2009. “Under San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore, 159 men and women have died while in custody, additionally costing the taxpayer millions of dollars in wrongful death case settlements, staff time and legal costs,” the resolution states. People incarcerated in San Diego County jails have been dying at a higher rate than prisoners in other large California counties.