By Pitts H.B. No. 2386
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the mandating that an autopsy be performed on all
1-3 children six years of age and under who die suddenly and
1-4 unexpectedly and who are otherwise healthy.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Article 49.10, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
1-7 amended to read as follows:
1-8 Art. 49.10. Autopsies and Tests. (a) At his discretion, a
1-9 justice of the peace may obtain the opinion of a county health
1-10 officer or a physician concerning the necessity of obtaining an
1-11 autopsy in order to determine or confirm the nature and cause of a
1-12 death.
1-13 (b) The commissioners court of the county shall pay a
1-14 reasonable fee for a consultation obtained by a justice of the
1-15 peace under Subsection (a) of this article.
1-16 (c) For each body that is the subject of an inquest by a
1-17 justice of the peace, the justice shall:
1-18 (1) direct a physician to perform an autopsy; or
1-19 (2) certify that no autopsy is necessary.
1-20 (d) A justice of the peace may not order a person to perform
1-21 an autopsy on the body of a deceased person whose death was caused
1-22 by Asiatic cholera, bubonic plague, typhus fever, or smallpox.
1-23 (e) A justice of the peace shall order an autopsy performed
2-1 on a body if:
2-2 (1) the justice determines that an autopsy is
2-3 necessary to determine or confirm the nature and cause of death;
2-4 <or>
2-5 (2) the deceased person was a child under six years of
2-6 age who died suddenly and unexpectedly, but was otherwise healthy;
2-7 or
2-8 (3) directed to do so by the district attorney,
2-9 criminal district attorney, or, if there is no district attorney or
2-10 criminal district attorney, the county attorney.
2-11 (f) A justice of the peace shall request a physician to
2-12 perform the autopsy. A physician who performs an autopsy as
2-13 required by Subsection (e)(2) of this article must have training
2-14 and experience in pathology, toxicology, and histology.
2-15 (g) The commissioners court shall pay a reasonable fee to a
2-16 physician performing an autopsy on the order of a justice of the
2-17 peace, if a fee is assessed.
2-18 (h) The commissioners court shall pay a reasonable fee for
2-19 the transportation of a body to a place where an autopsy can be
2-20 performed under this article if a justice of the peace orders the
2-21 body to be transported to the place.
2-22 (i) If a justice of the peace determines that a complete
2-23 autopsy is unnecessary to confirm or determine the cause of death,
2-24 the justice may order a physician to take or remove from a body a
2-25 sample of body fluids, tissues, or organs in order to determine the
3-1 nature and cause of death. Except as provided by Subsection (j) of
3-2 this article, a justice may not order any person other than a
3-3 physician to take samples from the body of a deceased person.
3-4 (j) A justice of the peace may order a physician, qualified
3-5 technician, chemist, registered professional nurse, or licensed
3-6 vocational nurse to take a specimen of blood from the body of a
3-7 person who died as the result of a motor vehicle accident if the
3-8 justice determines that circumstances indicate the person may have
3-9 been driving while intoxicated.
3-10 (k) A justice of the peace may order an investigative or
3-11 laboratory test to determine the identity of a deceased person.
3-12 After proper removal of a sample from a body, a justice may order
3-13 any person specially trained in identification work to complete any
3-14 tests necessary to determine the identity of the deceased person.
3-15 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
3-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.