After years of warnings from state regulators that the practice was dangerous and violated state building codes, San Diego County is moving to phase out the use of triple bunk beds in its jails. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $3.5 million increase to the sheriff’s budget to remove the bunks. The change follows repeated findings by the Board of State and Community Corrections — which conducts regular inspections of county jails — that the Sheriff’s Office was placing three people in cells designed for two and putting too many triple bunks in dormitory-style units. The Sheriff’s Office has acknowledged that triple bunking violates state regulations and creates dangerous conditions inside its jails. Triple bunking has been blamed in part for the deaths of two men and severe injuries suffered by another. The triple bunks have been around at least since 1987. A San Diego Union-Tribune article from Dec. 21 of that year, described work crews at a now-shuttered jail in Descanso soldering together bunks. The article quotes a jail official saying that making the bunks in-house saved money, costing about $30 per bed instead of roughly $220 if they’d been bought from a prison supplier. But the practice has cost the county millions of dollars in legal settlements. In 2021, the family of Lyle Woodward won a $400,000 settlement in a lawsuit they filed after he was killed by a cellmate in a three-person cell in the Central Jail. In March 2023, the county agreed to pay Frankie Greer nearly $8 million for injuries he sustained after he fell from the top of a triple bunk. According to his lawsuit, Greer had a seizure disorder and told deputies he needed a bottom bunk, but his request was denied. Less than 24 hours later, he fell 6 feet from the top bunk, hitting his head on the concrete floor. He suffered a serious brain injury and was in a coma for several weeks. He’s now in an assisted-living facility. In December 2023, Eric Van Tine was attacked after being housed with two other men in a cell measuring just under 75 square feet. According to sheriff investigators, Walt Mehran dragged Van Tine from his bunk after he fell asleep and beat him unconscious. Eric Van Tine is pictured at the coast before his arrest. (Matthew Van Tine) Van Tine suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent four months in a coma. He later developed a severe lung infection, was placed on life support and died Nov. 6, 2024, after his family chose to withdraw care. In September, Mehran pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In a statement to the court before Mehran’s sentencing, Van Tine’s brother, Matthew, criticized the decision by sheriff’s deputies to place three men — two with acute mental illness — in a small, unsupervised cell. He called it “reckless,” “inhumane” and representative of a broader systemic failure. Van Tine’s family has also sued. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the county jail system currently has 732 sets of triple bunks — 393 in individual cells and the remainder in dormitory-style housing units, all in male facilities. Removing those third bunks entirely would reduce the jail system’s capacity by roughly the equivalent of one jail. A sheriff’s spokesperson said the department is relying on the opening of new housing units at the Rock Mountain Detention Facility and the completion of construction at East Mesa Reentry Facility, both in Otay Mesa, to offset the reduction in capacity. Lt. David Collins said triple bunks were “being phased out,” with removals continuing into 2026. A class-action lawsuit filed nearly five years ago over jail conditions has also pushed the Sheriff’s Office to scale back on its use of triple bunks, after incarcerated people with disabilities described injuries they suffered struggling to get in and out of triple bunks. As part of a partial settlement finalized earlier this year, the sheriff agreed to stop assigning anyone with mobility issues to a three-person cell or to the top of a triple bunk in a dorm unit. Van Swearingen, one of the lead plaintiff’s attorneys in the lawsuit, said he was glad to hear that the Sheriff’s Office has committed to removing triple bunks. “People with mental health issues often deteriorate in triple bunk cells,” he said. “Cramming people into triple bunks can lead to increased health and safety risks as well as heightened violence and tension.” Removing the triple bunks is part of a larger plan to fix outdated plumbing, electrical and security systems at several county jails and replace the nearly 50-year-old Vista Detention Facility with a new jail. ...read more read less