1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the death of an inmate in the custody of the Texas
1-3 Department of Criminal Justice or imprisoned in a facility operated
1-4 by or under contract with the department.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Article 49.18, Code of Criminal
1-7 Procedure, is amended to read as follows:
1-8 (c) Subsection (a) [This article] does not apply to a death
1-9 that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the
1-10 Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Subsection (b) does not
1-11 apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under
1-12 contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if the death
1-13 occurs under circumstances described by Section 501.055(b),
1-14 Government Code.
1-15 SECTION 2. Section 501.055, Government Code, is amended to
1-16 read as follows:
1-17 Sec. 501.055. REPORT OF INMATE DEATH. (a) If an inmate
1-18 dies while in the custody of [confined in a facility operated by or
1-19 under contract with] the department, an employee of the facility
1-20 who is in charge of the inmate shall immediately notify the nearest
1-21 justice of the peace serving in the county in which the inmate died
1-22 and the office of internal affairs for the department. The justice
1-23 shall personally inspect the body and make an inquiry as to the
1-24 cause of death. The justice shall make written copies of evidence
2-1 taken during the inquest, and give one copy to the director and one
2-2 copy to a district judge serving in the county in which the inmate
2-3 died. The judge shall provide the copy to the grand jury and, if
2-4 the judge determines the evidence indicates wrongdoing, instruct
2-5 the grand jury to thoroughly investigate the cause of death.
2-6 (b) Subsection (a) does not apply if the inmate:
2-7 (1) dies of natural causes while attended by a
2-8 physician or a registered nurse [and an autopsy is scheduled to be
2-9 performed]; or
2-10 (2) is lawfully executed.
2-11 (c) If an inmate dies as described by Subsection (b)(1), the
2-12 department or an authorized official of the department shall
2-13 immediately attempt to notify the next of kin of the inmate that
2-14 the inmate has died, state the time of the inmate's death, and
2-15 inform the next of kin that unless the next of kin objects to the
2-16 department within eight hours of the stated time of death, an
2-17 autopsy will be conducted on the inmate.
2-18 (d) If the next of kin consents to the autopsy or does not
2-19 within eight hours of the time of death object to the department
2-20 about the autopsy, the department or an authorized official of the
2-21 department shall order an autopsy to be conducted on the inmate.
2-22 The order of an autopsy under this subsection constitutes consent
2-23 to an autopsy for the purposes of Article 49.13(b), Code of
2-24 Criminal Procedure.
2-25 (e) For purposes of this section, an "inmate in the custody
2-26 of the department" is a convicted felon who:
2-27 (1) is confined in a secure correctional facility
3-1 operated by or under contract with the department; or
3-2 (2) has been admitted for treatment into a hospital
3-3 while remaining in the custody of the department.
3-4 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Government Code, is
3-5 amended by adding Section 501.0551 to read as follows:
3-6 Sec. 501.0551. ANATOMICAL GIFTS. (a) The department,
3-7 during the diagnostic process, shall provide each inmate with a
3-8 form on which the inmate may indicate whether the inmate wishes to
3-9 be an eye, tissue, or organ donor if the inmate dies while in the
3-10 custody of the department.
3-11 (b) If an inmate indicates on the form that the inmate
3-12 wishes to be a donor, the effect is the same as if the inmate
3-13 executed a statement of gift under Section 521.401, Transportation
3-14 Code.
3-15 (c) The department shall adopt procedures to provide inmates
3-16 with the form described by Subsection (a).
3-17 (d) In addition to providing inmates with the form
3-18 described by Subsection (a) during the diagnostic process, the
3-19 department shall make the forms available to inmates in the custody
3-20 of the department who have completed the diagnostic process. For
3-21 this purpose, the department shall prominently display the forms in
3-22 areas accessible to inmates and provide with the forms information
3-23 about the ability of inmates to execute a statement of gift and the
3-24 effect of that execution. This subsection expires September 1,
3-25 2002.
3-26 SECTION 4. Article 49.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is
3-27 amended to read as follows:
4-1 Art. 49.13. CONSENT TO AUTOPSY. (a) Consent for a
4-2 physician to conduct an autopsy is sufficient if given by the
4-3 following:
4-4 (1) if the deceased was married, the surviving spouse;
4-5 (2) if the deceased was married but not survived by a
4-6 spouse, an adult child of the deceased;
4-7 (3) if the deceased was married but not survived by a
4-8 spouse, and a child of the deceased is under the care of a guardian
4-9 or a court, the guardian or court having care of the child; or
4-10 (4) if the deceased person was unmarried or is not
4-11 survived by a spouse or a child, the following persons in the order
4-12 stated:
4-13 (A) a parent;
4-14 (B) a guardian;
4-15 (C) the next of kin; or
4-16 (D) any person who assumes custody of and
4-17 responsibility for the burial of the body.
4-18 (b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), consent for a physician
4-19 to conduct an autopsy is sufficient if given by the Texas
4-20 Department of Criminal Justice or an authorized official of the
4-21 department in accordance with Section 501.055, Government Code.
4-22 SECTION 5. The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2, and 4
4-23 of this Act apply only to the investigation of the death of an
4-24 inmate who dies on or after the effective date of this Act. The
4-25 investigation of the death of an inmate who dies before the
4-26 effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the
4-27 inmate died, and the former law is continued in effect for that
5-1 purpose.
5-2 SECTION 6. 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,
5-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-8 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2827 was passed by the House on April
22, 1997, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 2827 on May 28, 1997, by the
following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 1 present, not voting.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2827 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 1997, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor