Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 515 amends the Health and Safety Code to authorize the establishment of a multidisciplinary and multiagency fatality review team to review cases of fatalities resulting from suicide, family violence, or abuse and to recommend methods to improve coordination of services and investigation between agencies in order to decrease the incidence of preventable adult deaths. The bill sets forth the membership, powers, duties, and review procedures of the team. It authorizes the review team to request information and records regarding certain adult deaths and provides that a member of the review team may be civilly liable for damages caused by disclosure of the information. The bill provides that a meeting of the review team is closed to the public and is not subject to the open meetings law.

            The bill requires a person, including a health care provider, who has knowledge regarding an adult who died under certain circumstances to report the death to a county medical examiner or a justice of the peace. The bill authorizes a medical examiner or justice of the peace to hold an inquest to determine whether the death was caused by suicide, family violence, or abuse, and it requires the medical examiner or justice of the peace to notify the county or entity overseeing the review team of reports of unexpected fatalities and of deaths found to be caused by suicide, family violence, or abuse.