Enrolled Bill Summary

Senate Bill 356 amends the Code of Criminal Procedure to require a justice of the peace to conduct an inquest into the death of a person if a body part, and not just the entire body, of a person is found and the cause or circumstances of death are unknown. The bill makes conforming changes and also authorizes the justice of the peace, rather than the medical examiner, to request the aid of a forensic anthropologist in examining a body or body part. The forensic anthropologist is required to hold a doctoral degree in anthropology with an emphasis in physical anthropology.