1-1     By:  Zaffirini                                         S.B. No. 502

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 10, 1997; February 12, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;

 1-4     April 10, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the following

 1-5     vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; April 10, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Ellis

 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 502 on page 1, line 42, insert the following as

 1-8     SECTION 2 of the bill and renumber each subsequent SECTION

 1-9     appropriately:

1-10           SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 264.514, Family Code, is

1-11     amended to read as follows:

1-12           (a)  A medical examiner or justice of the peace notified of a

1-13     death of a child under Section 264.513 shall hold an inquest under

1-14     Chapter 49, Code of Criminal Procedure, to determine whether the

1-15     death is unexpected.  An inquest is not required under this

1-16     subchapter if the child's death is expected and is due to a

1-17     congenital or neoplastic disease.  A death caused by an infectious

1-18     disease may be considered an expected death if:

1-19                 (1)  the disease was not acquired as a result of trauma

1-20     or poisoning;

1-21                 (2)  the infectious organism is identified using

1-22     standard medical procedures; and

1-23                 (3)  the death is not reportable to the Texas

1-24     Department of Health under Chapter 81, Health and Safety Code.

1-25                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

1-26                                   AN ACT

1-27     relating to autopsies performed on a body if the deceased was a

1-28     child younger than six years of age.

1-29           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-30           SECTION 1.  Subsection (e), Article 49.10, Code of Criminal

1-31     Procedure, is amended to read as follows:

1-32           (e)  A justice of the peace shall order an autopsy performed

1-33     on a body if:

1-34                 (1)  the justice determines that an autopsy is

1-35     necessary to determine or confirm the nature and cause of death;

1-36                 (2)  the deceased was a child younger than six years of

1-37     age and the death is determined [was reported] under Section

1-38     264.514 [Chapter 264], Family Code, to be unexpected; or

1-39                 (3)  directed to do so by the district attorney,

1-40     criminal district attorney, or, if there is no district or criminal

1-41     district attorney, the county attorney.

1-42           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-43     applies only to a death of a child younger than six years of age

1-44     that occurs on or after September 1, 1997.  A death of a child that

1-45     occurs before September 1, 1997, is governed by the law as it

1-46     existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that

1-47     law is continued in effect for that purpose.

1-48           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-49     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-50     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-51     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-52     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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