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.
2-58 * * * * *