1-1     By:  Place (Senate Sponsor - Duncan)                  H.B. No. 2827

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 1997;

 1-3     April 24, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Criminal Justice; May 15, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;

 1-6     May 15, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2827                  By:  Duncan

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the death of an inmate in the custody of the Texas

1-11     Department of Criminal Justice or imprisoned in a facility operated

1-12     by or under contract with the department.

1-13           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-14           SECTION 1.  Subsection (c), Article 49.18, Code of Criminal

1-15     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

1-16           (c)  Subsection (a) [This article] does not apply to a death

1-17     that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the

1-18     Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  Subsection (b) does not

1-19     apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under

1-20     contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if the death

1-21     occurs under circumstances described by Section 501.055(b),

1-22     Government Code.

1-23           SECTION 2.  Section 501.055, Government Code, is amended to

1-24     read as follows:

1-25           Sec. 501.055.  REPORT OF INMATE DEATH.  (a)  If an inmate

1-26     dies while in the custody of [confined in a facility operated by or

1-27     under contract with] the department, an employee of the facility

1-28     who is in charge of the inmate shall immediately notify the nearest

1-29     justice of the peace serving in the county in which the inmate died

1-30     and the office of internal affairs for the department. The justice

1-31     shall personally inspect the body and make an inquiry as to the

1-32     cause of death. The justice shall make written copies of evidence

1-33     taken during the inquest, and give one copy to the director and one

1-34     copy to a district judge serving in the county in which the inmate

1-35     died. The judge shall provide the copy to the grand jury and, if

1-36     the judge determines the evidence indicates wrongdoing, instruct

1-37     the grand jury to thoroughly investigate the cause of death.

1-38           (b)  Subsection (a) does not apply if the inmate:

1-39                 (1)  dies of natural causes while attended by a

1-40     physician or a registered nurse [and an autopsy is scheduled to be

1-41     performed]; or

1-42                 (2)  is lawfully executed.

1-43           (c)  If an inmate dies as described by Subsection (b)(1), the

1-44     department or an authorized official of the department shall

1-45     immediately attempt to notify the next of kin of the inmate that

1-46     the inmate has died, state the time of the inmate's death, and

1-47     inform the next of kin that unless the next of kin objects to the

1-48     department within eight hours of the stated time of death, an

1-49     autopsy will be conducted on the inmate.

1-50           (d)  If the next of kin consents to the autopsy or does not

1-51     within eight hours of the time of death object to the department

1-52     about the autopsy, the department or an authorized official of the

1-53     department shall order an autopsy to be conducted on the inmate.

1-54     The order of an autopsy under this subsection constitutes consent

1-55     to an autopsy for the purposes of Article 49.13(b), Code of

1-56     Criminal Procedure.

1-57           (e)  For purposes of this section, an "inmate in the custody

1-58     of the department" is a convicted felon who:

1-59                 (1)  is confined in a secure correctional facility

1-60     operated by or under contract with the department; or

1-61                 (2)  has been admitted for treatment into a hospital

1-62     while remaining in the custody of the department.

1-63           SECTION 3.  Subchapter B, Chapter 501, Government Code, is

1-64     amended by adding Section 501.0551 to read as follows:

 2-1           Sec. 501.0551.  ANATOMICAL GIFTS.  (a)  The department,

 2-2     during the diagnostic process, shall provide each inmate with a

 2-3     form on which the inmate may indicate whether the inmate wishes to

 2-4     be an eye, tissue, or organ donor if the inmate dies while in the

 2-5     custody of the department.

 2-6           (b)  If an inmate indicates on the form that the inmate

 2-7     wishes to be a donor, the effect is the same as if the inmate

 2-8     executed a statement of gift under Section 521.401, Transportation

 2-9     Code.

2-10           (c)  The department shall adopt procedures to provide inmates

2-11     with the form described by Subsection (a).

2-12           (d)  In addition to  providing inmates with the form

2-13     described by Subsection (a) during the diagnostic process, the

2-14     department shall make the forms available to inmates in the custody

2-15     of the department who have completed the diagnostic process.  For

2-16     this purpose, the department shall prominently display the forms in

2-17     areas accessible to inmates and provide with the forms information

2-18     about the ability of inmates to execute a statement of gift and the

2-19     effect of that execution.  This subsection expires September 1,

2-20     2002.

2-21           SECTION 4.  Article 49.13, Code of Criminal Procedure, is

2-22     amended to read as follows:

2-23           Art. 49.13.  CONSENT TO AUTOPSY.  (a)  Consent for a

2-24     physician to conduct an autopsy is sufficient if given by the

2-25     following:

2-26                 (1)  if the deceased was married, the surviving spouse;

2-27                 (2)  if the deceased was married but not survived by a

2-28     spouse, an adult child of the deceased;

2-29                 (3)  if the deceased was married but not survived by a

2-30     spouse, and a child of the deceased is under the care of a guardian

2-31     or a court, the guardian or court having care of the child; or

2-32                 (4)  if the deceased person was unmarried or is not

2-33     survived by a spouse or a child, the following persons in the order

2-34     stated:

2-35                       (A)  a parent;

2-36                       (B)  a guardian;

2-37                       (C)  the next of kin; or

2-38                       (D)  any person who assumes custody of and

2-39     responsibility for the burial of the body.

2-40           (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), consent for a physician

2-41     to conduct an autopsy is sufficient if given by the Texas

2-42     Department of Criminal Justice or an authorized official of the

2-43     department in accordance with Section 501.055, Government Code.

2-44           SECTION 5.  The changes in law made by Sections 1, 2, and 4

2-45     of this Act apply only to the investigation of the death of an

2-46     inmate who dies on or after the effective date of this Act.  The

2-47     investigation of the death of an inmate who dies before the

2-48     effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect when the

2-49     inmate died, and the former law is continued in effect for that

2-50     purpose.

2-51           SECTION 6.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-52     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-53     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-54     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-55     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-56     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-57     passage, and it is so enacted.

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