Psychological Counseling Lawsuit in San Diego Jails

The San Diego jail mental health lawsuit is Dunsmore v. San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, a federal class action filed in 2020 that has produced a 2026 settlement requiring the county to rebuild how it delivers psychiatric and psychological care across all seven of its jail facilities. The agreement, approved by the Board of Supervisors on February 12, 2026, and granted preliminary court approval on March 12, 2026, mandates clinical evaluations for everyone entering custody, sharp new limits on solitary confinement for people with mental illness, expanded beds and staffing, and independent monitoring with twice-yearly reports to the court.¹

How the Case Started and Who It Covers

Darryl Dunsmore, incarcerated and without a lawyer, filed the original complaint in 2020. An amended complaint adding class-action allegations followed in February 2022, and a Third Amended Complaint in November 2022.² The plaintiffs are now represented by Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP as lead class counsel, together with DLA Piper, the Law Office of Aaron J. Fischer, and the ACLU Foundation of San Diego & Imperial Counties.³

The certified class covers all adults currently or in the future incarcerated in the county jail system, which holds thousands of people on any given day. Subclasses include people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act, those with private counsel or pursuing federal claims pro se, and Black or Latinx individuals.⁴ The lawsuit brings claims under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and the California Constitution, alleging the county has failed to provide constitutionally adequate mental health care, medical treatment, and safe conditions. The case is before U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Battaglia in the Southern District of California.

What the Mental Health Settlement Requires

The agreement resolves the lawsuit’s Second Claim for Relief, which focuses specifically on psychiatric and psychological care. A qualified mental health professional must evaluate every person entering custody and assign them to one of five defined levels of care: Safety Cell, Enhanced Observation Housing, Psychiatric Stabilization Unit, Outpatient Step Down, or Outpatient. Each level comes with an individualized treatment plan.⁵

The county must expand the number of beds and clinical staff across all seven facilities and build a comprehensive bed and staffing plan based on a systemwide needs assessment. New dedicated Outpatient Step Down housing at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility and Rock Mountain Detention Facility is already underway, with completion scheduled for March 2027. Custody officers and mental health staff will receive de-escalation and suicide prevention training.

New Limits on Solitary Confinement

The settlement sharply restricts the use of isolation for people with mental illness. Before anyone is placed in administrative separation, a mental health professional must conduct a pre-clearance evaluation to determine whether isolation is contraindicated by the person’s condition. Placement in solitary confinement based on mental illness alone is prohibited. If someone already in isolation shows signs of decompensation, staff must refer them to a clinician for possible removal. People held in these units are also guaranteed access to tablets to help offset the psychological effects of isolation.⁵

How Compliance Will Be Monitored

An independent neutral expert will be appointed to monitor compliance, inspect facilities, interview staff and class members, review documentation, and file reports with the court twice a year. Class counsel retains the right to access records, conduct regular interviews inside the jails, and accompany the expert on inspections.⁵

Gay Grunfeld, an attorney for the class, said the agreement “demonstrates the dedication of Sheriff Martinez and the Board of Supervisors to improving the mental health care system at the Jail.”⁵

Where the Settlement Stands Now

Preliminary approval came on March 12, 2026. A fairness hearing on final approval is set for July 16, 2026.¹ Final approval is the step at which the terms become fully enforceable through the court.

What the Settlement Does Not Provide

The relief is injunctive only. The agreement requires the county to change how it operates; it does not include individual monetary awards for class members. Anyone looking to the class action for personal damages tied to past mental health care in the jails will not find them here. Separate individual suits over jail deaths have produced payouts of their own, with the county paying roughly $40 million over two years to settle such claims, but those are outside the class action.⁶

Four claims in the broader lawsuit remain unresolved, covering allegations of racial discrimination, denial of access to counsel, and failures to ensure adequate conditions and safety. On August 11, 2025, Judge Battaglia denied the county’s motion for partial summary judgment on six active claims; two of those were later folded into the May 2026 medical and dental settlement.⁵ Plaintiffs’ attorneys have said they will take the remaining claims to trial if settlements are not reached.⁶

The Related Health Care Settlements

The mental health agreement was the second of three settlements in the case. In December 2024, the Board of Supervisors approved a settlement resolving the lawsuit’s ADA claims (the Third Claim for Relief). It requires physical modifications to jail facilities, including accessible showers and cells at Central Jail, improved intake procedures for people with mobility disabilities, better access to sign language interpreters, and neutral-expert monitoring. The court granted final approval on August 4, 2025.⁴

A third settlement, resolving the First and Sixth Claims for Relief on medical and dental care, was approved by county supervisors on May 19, 2026. It requires the sheriff to expand medical and dental staffing, mandating at least one dentist per 1,000 jail residents, and to create individualized treatment plans for chronic conditions such as diabetes, HIV, liver disease, and seizure disorders. It also broadens withdrawal treatment for substance use, requires counseling for people who refuse necessary care, and allows those with insulin pumps to retain them in custody. Outside experts will conduct quarterly compliance assessments.⁷⁶ Together, the three agreements set the framework for health care behind bars in San Diego County for years to come.

1
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP. Federal Court Grants Preliminary Approval of Settlement of San Diego Jails Claim Re Inadequate Provision of Mental Health Care
2
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP. San Diego County Jail
3
ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties. Dunsmore v. SD County Sheriff’s Department
4
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Dunsmore v. State of California
5
Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP. Settlement Agreement to Resolve Mental Health Claims in Class Action on Conditions at San Diego County Jail Is Approved by Board
6
San Diego Union-Tribune. Sheriff Will Reform Health Care in San Diego County Jails Under Latest Settlement in Long-Running Lawsuit
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Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP. Settlement Agreement to Resolve Medical and Dental Care Claims in Class Action on Conditions at San Diego County Jail Is Approved by Board