74R10242 GWK-F
By Hightower H.B. No. 1980
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1980:
By Pitts C.S.H.B. No. 1980
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the procedures for investigating the death of a person
1-3 confined in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas
1-4 Department of Criminal Justice; providing a penalty.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 501.055, Government Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 501.055. REPORT OF INMATE DEATH<; CRIMINAL PENALTY>.
1-9 (a) If an inmate dies while confined in a facility operated by or
1-10 under contract with the department, <the custody of the
1-11 institutional division, the director of the institutional division,
1-12 or> an employee of the facility who is <division> in charge of the
1-13 inmate shall immediately notify the nearest justice of the peace
1-14 serving in the county in which the inmate died and the office of
1-15 internal affairs for the department. The justice shall personally
1-16 inspect the body and make an inquiry as to the cause of death. The
1-17 justice shall make written copies of evidence taken during the
1-18 inquest, and give one copy to the director and one copy to a
1-19 district judge serving in the county in which the inmate died. The
1-20 judge shall provide the copy to the grand jury and, if the judge
1-21 determines the evidence indicates wrongdoing, instruct the grand
1-22 jury to thoroughly investigate the cause of death.
1-23 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply if the inmate:
1-24 (1) dies of natural causes while attended by a
2-1 physician and an autopsy is scheduled to be performed; or
2-2 (2) is lawfully executed. <An employee of the
2-3 institutional division commits an offense if the employee is in
2-4 charge of an inmate who dies and the employee fails to immediately
2-5 notify a justice of the peace of the death in the manner required
2-6 by Subsection (a).>
2-7 <(c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a misdemeanor
2-8 punishable by:>
2-9 <(1) a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500;
2-10 and>
2-11 <(2) confinement in jail for not less than 60 days or
2-12 more than one year.>
2-13 SECTION 2. Section 39.05, Penal Code, is amended to read as
2-14 follows:
2-15 Sec. 39.05. FAILURE TO REPORT DEATH OF PRISONER. (a) A
2-16 person commits an offense if the person is required to conduct an
2-17 investigation and file a report by Article 49.18, Code of Criminal
2-18 Procedure, and the person fails to investigate the death, fails to
2-19 file the report as required, or fails to include in a filed report
2-20 facts known or discovered in the investigation.
2-21 (b) A person commits an offense if the person is required by
2-22 Section 501.055, Government Code, to:
2-23 (1) give notice of the death of an inmate and the
2-24 person fails to give the notice; or
2-25 (2) conduct an investigation and file a report and the
2-26 person:
2-27 (A) fails to conduct the investigation or file
3-1 the report; or
3-2 (B) fails to include in the report facts known
3-3 to the person or discovered by the person in the investigation.
3-4 (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
3-5 SECTION 3. Article 49.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-6 amended to read as follows:
3-7 (a) A justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the
3-8 death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if:
3-9 (1) the person dies in prison under circumstances
3-10 other than those described by Section 501.055(b), Government Code,
3-11 or in jail;
3-12 (2) the person dies an unnatural death from a cause
3-13 other than a legal execution;
3-14 (3) the body of the person is found and the cause or
3-15 circumstances of death are unknown;
3-16 (4) the circumstances of the death indicate that the
3-17 death may have been caused by unlawful means;
3-18 (5) the person commits suicide or the circumstances of
3-19 the death indicate that the death may have been caused by suicide;
3-20 (6) the person dies without having been attended by a
3-21 physician;
3-22 (7) the person dies while attended by a physician who
3-23 is unable to certify the cause of death and who requests the
3-24 justice of the peace to conduct an inquest; or
3-25 (8) the person is a child who is younger than 18
3-26 months of age and the suspected cause of death is sudden infant
3-27 death syndrome.
4-1 SECTION 4. Article 49.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
4-2 amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
4-3 (c) This article does not apply to a death that occurs in a
4-4 facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of
4-5 Criminal Justice.
4-6 SECTION 5. (a) The amendment by this Act of Section
4-7 501.055, Government Code, does not apply to an offense committed
4-8 under Subsection (c) of that section before the effective date of
4-9 this Act. An offense under Subsection (c) of that section
4-10 committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by
4-11 Section 501.055 as it existed on the date on which the offense was
4-12 committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-13 purpose.
4-14 (b) The amendment by this Act of Section 39.05, Penal Code,
4-15 applies only to an offense under that section committed on or after
4-16 the effective date of this Act. An offense committed under Section
4-17 39.05 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
4-18 in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
4-19 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-20 (c) For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
4-21 before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
4-22 occurs before that date.
4-23 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
4-24 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-25 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-26 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-27 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-1 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.