BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A yearslong investigation into conditions at Kern County's Lerdo Jail has resulted in sweeping reforms that reduced the jail's use of administrative segregation by more than 95%, according to a joint announcement Friday from the Kern County Sheriff's Office, the Prison Law Office and Disability Rights California.
The investigation began after a May 2023 inspection found that approximately 300 of the jail's 1,629 incarcerated people — nearly one-fifth of the total jail population — were housed in administrative segregation, where they spent up to 23 hours a day confined to their cells.
Disability Rights California described the practice as an outlier compared with correctional facilities across the state.
Investigators found that more than half of those held in administrative segregation were receiving psychiatric medications or were on the jail's mental health caseload. During site visits, investigators observed people exhibiting severe symptoms of mental illness, including hallucinations, self-harming behavior and other signs of psychological distress.
The report also found it was routine practice to transfer people directly from suicide watch into administrative segregation. Some incarcerated people told investigators they had cycled between the two multiple times and described the experience as feeling "like torture."
Investigators also documented unsanitary living conditions in the segregation units, reporting cells covered in food waste, garbage and human waste, along with insect and rodent infestations. Records reviewed during the investigation showed some people had spent years in administrative segregation, including one individual who had remained there for more than seven years.
Following a multi-year reform effort, the number of people housed in administrative segregation has fallen from approximately 300 to consistently fewer than 10, according to the agencies.
Sheriff Donny Youngblood said the reforms demonstrated that long-term isolation is not necessary to maintain safety inside the jail.
"Maintaining safety in the jail does not require relying on long-term isolation," Youngblood said in a statement. "Our work with Prison Law Office and Disability Rights California, as well as our consulting experts, Ben Rice and Tim Belavich, has made us a stronger and safer organization. We've been able to implement changes that benefit staff, improve conditions for individuals, and continue to support the secure operation of our jails."
According to the agencies, the reforms included new inmate classification policies, expanded mental health treatment, increased out-of-cell time, the elimination of disciplinary segregation, the creation of an Americans with Disabilities Act housing unit and the distribution of more than 800 tablets to incarcerated people.
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