By Hightower H.B. No. 1980
74R7217 GWK-F
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
1-12 division, or> an employee of the facility who is <division> in
1-13 charge of the inmate shall immediately notify the nearest justice
1-14 of the peace serving in the county in which the inmate died and the
1-15 office of internal affairs for the department. The office of
1-16 internal affairs <justice> shall appoint an investigator to
1-17 <personally inspect the body and> make an inquiry as to the cause
1-18 of death. The investigator <justice> shall make a report that
1-19 includes a written copy <copies> of evidence taken during the
1-20 inquiry <inquest,> and give one copy of the report to the executive
1-21 director and one copy to a justice of the peace <district judge>
1-22 serving in the county in which the inmate died. If the justice of
1-23 the peace determines that a circumstance listed in Article
1-24 49.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, exists, the justice shall
2-1 give a copy of the report to a district judge serving in the county
2-2 in which the inmate died. The district judge who receives a copy
2-3 of the report shall provide the copy to the grand jury and, if the
2-4 judge determines the evidence indicates wrongdoing, instruct the
2-5 grand jury to thoroughly investigate the cause of death.
2-6 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply if the inmate:
2-7 (1) dies while attended by a physician and an autopsy
2-8 is scheduled to be performed; or
2-9 (2) is lawfully executed <An employee of the
2-10 institutional division commits an offense if the employee is in
2-11 charge of an inmate who dies and the employee fails to immediately
2-12 notify a justice of the peace of the death in the manner required
2-13 by Subsection (a).>
2-14 <(c) An offense under Subsection (b) is a misdemeanor
2-15 punishable by:>
2-16 <(1) a fine of not less than $100 or more than $500;
2-17 and>
2-18 <(2) confinement in jail for not less than 60 days or
2-19 more than one year>.
2-20 SECTION 2. Section 39.05, Penal Code, is amended to read as
2-21 follows:
2-22 Sec. 39.05. FAILURE TO REPORT DEATH OF PRISONER. (a) A
2-23 person commits an offense if the person is required to conduct an
2-24 investigation and file a report by Article 49.18, Code of Criminal
2-25 Procedure, and the person fails to investigate the death, fails to
2-26 file the report as required, or fails to include in a filed report
2-27 facts known or discovered in the investigation.
3-1 (b) A person commits an offense if the person is required by
3-2 Section 501.055, Government Code, to:
3-3 (1) give notice of the death of an inmate and the
3-4 person fails to give the notice; or
3-5 (2) conduct an investigation and file a report and the
3-6 person:
3-7 (A) fails to conduct the investigation or file
3-8 the report; or
3-9 (B) fails to include in the report facts known
3-10 to the person or discovered by the person in the investigation.
3-11 (c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
3-12 SECTION 3. Article 49.04(a), Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-13 amended to read as follows:
3-14 (a) A justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the
3-15 death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if:
3-16 (1) the person dies in <prison or in> jail;
3-17 (2) the person dies an unnatural death from a cause
3-18 other than a legal execution;
3-19 (3) the body of the person is found and the cause or
3-20 circumstances of death are unknown;
3-21 (4) the circumstances of the death indicate that the
3-22 death may have been caused by unlawful means;
3-23 (5) the person commits suicide or the circumstances of
3-24 the death indicate that the death may have been caused by suicide;
3-25 (6) the person dies without having been attended by a
3-26 physician;
3-27 (7) the person dies while attended by a physician who
4-1 is unable to certify the cause of death and who requests the
4-2 justice of the peace to conduct an inquest; or
4-3 (8) the person is a child who is younger than 18
4-4 months of age and the suspected cause of death is sudden infant
4-5 death syndrome.
4-6 SECTION 4. Article 49.18, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
4-7 amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
4-8 (c) This article does not apply to an inmate death that
4-9 occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas
4-10 Department of Criminal Justice.
4-11 SECTION 5. (a) The amendment by this Act of Section
4-12 501.055, Government Code, does not apply to an offense committed
4-13 under Subsection (c) of that section before the effective date of
4-14 this Act. An offense under Subsection (c) of that section
4-15 committed before the effective date of this Act is covered by
4-16 Section 501.055 as it existed on the date on which the offense was
4-17 committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
4-18 purpose.
4-19 (b) The amendment by this Act of Section 39.05, Penal Code,
4-20 applies only to an offense under that section committed on or after
4-21 the effective date of this Act. An offense committed under Section
4-22 39.05 before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
4-23 in effect when the offense was committed, and the former law is
4-24 continued in effect for that purpose.
4-25 (c) For purposes of this section, an offense is committed
4-26 before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
4-27 occurs before that date.
5-1 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
5-2 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
5-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.