By Truitt H.B. No. 2676 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to the establishment of a domestic violence fatality 1-3 review team in certain counties. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 4, Family Code, is amended by 1-6 adding Chapter 93 to read as follows: 1-7 CHAPTER 93. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE FATALITY REVIEW TEAMS 1-8 Sec. 93.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-9 (1) "Autopsy" and "inquest" have the meanings assigned 1-10 by Article 49.01, Code of Criminal Procedure. 1-11 (2) "Bureau of vital statistics" means the bureau of 1-12 vital statistics of the Texas Department of Health. 1-13 (3) "Health care provider" means a health care 1-14 practitioner or facility that provides a medical evaluation or 1-15 treatment, including a dental and medical health evaluation or 1-16 treatment. 1-17 (4) "Meeting" means a face-to-face meeting or a 1-18 meeting held by telephone or another electronic medium. 1-19 (5) "Person" means a person older than 18 years of 1-20 age. 1-21 (6) "Preventable domestic violence death" means a 1-22 death that may have been prevented by reasonable medical, social, 1-23 legal, psychological, or educational intervention. The term 1-24 includes a death caused by: 2-1 (A) an intentional or unintentional injury; 2-2 (B) medical neglect; 2-3 (C) lack of access to medical care; or 2-4 (D) suicide. 2-5 (7) "Review" means the reexamination of information 2-6 regarding a deceased person acquired from relevant agencies, 2-7 professionals, and health care providers. 2-8 (8) "Review team" means a domestic violence fatality 2-9 review team established under this chapter. 2-10 (9) "Unexpected death" includes the death of a person 2-11 that, before an investigation is conducted, appears to have 2-12 occurred without anticipation or forewarning as a result of: 2-13 (A) trauma, suspicious or obscure circumstances, 2-14 abuse or neglect, or an unknown cause; or 2-15 (B) suicide. 2-16 Sec. 93.002. ESTABLISHMENT OF REVIEW TEAM; FUNDING. (a) A 2-17 multidisciplinary and multiagency domestic violence fatality review 2-18 team may be established in a county with a population of one 2-19 million or more that contains two or more municipalities, each of 2-20 which has a population of 250,000 or more, to review domestic 2-21 violence deaths and unexpected deaths in the county. 2-22 (b) Any person who may be a member of a review team under 2-23 Subsection (c) may initiate the establishment of a review team and 2-24 may call the first organizational meeting of the team. 2-25 (c) A review team may consist of: 2-26 (1) a criminal prosecutor involved in prosecuting 2-27 domestic violence crimes; 3-1 (2) the judge of the family violence county criminal 3-2 court or the court exercising similar jurisdiction; 3-3 (3) the sheriff; 3-4 (4) a justice of the peace; 3-5 (5) a medical examiner; 3-6 (6) a police chief; 3-7 (7) a physician experienced in diagnosing and treating 3-8 domestic violence abuse and neglect; 3-9 (8) a mental health services provider; 3-10 (9) a public health professional; 3-11 (10) a domestic violence family service provider; 3-12 (11) a domestic violence victims advocate; 3-13 (12) a domestic violence probation officer or another 3-14 similar probation officer; and 3-15 (13) a battering intervention advocate. 3-16 (d) The commissioners court for the county shall determine 3-17 the method for funding the review team. 3-18 Sec. 93.003. PURPOSE AND DUTIES OF REVIEW TEAM. (a) The 3-19 purpose of a review team is to decrease the incidence of 3-20 preventable domestic violence deaths by: 3-21 (1) promoting cooperation, communication, and 3-22 coordination among agencies involved in responding to domestic 3-23 violence deaths in the county; 3-24 (2) recommending changes to agencies, through the 3-25 appropriate review team member, that will reduce the number of 3-26 preventable domestic violence deaths; and 3-27 (3) addressing the need for changes to law, policy, or 4-1 practice that will assist the team and the represented agencies in 4-2 fulfilling their duties. 4-3 (b) To achieve its purpose, a review team shall: 4-4 (1) develop and implement protocols and procedures for 4-5 handling each domestic violence fatality case; 4-6 (2) investigate ways to implement the recommendations 4-7 made by the team; 4-8 (3) meet on a regular basis to review domestic 4-9 violence fatality cases and recommend methods to improve the 4-10 coordination of services and investigations between agencies that 4-11 are represented on the team; 4-12 (4) collect and maintain data; and 4-13 (5) submit to the bureau of vital statistics reports 4-14 on deaths reviewed by the team. 4-15 (c) A review team shall initiate prevention measures as 4-16 indicated by the review team's findings. 4-17 Sec. 93.004. DUTIES OF PRESIDING OFFICER. A review team 4-18 shall designate a presiding officer for the team who shall: 4-19 (1) send to the review team members notices of each 4-20 meeting to review a domestic violence fatality or unexpected death; 4-21 (2) provide to the review team members a list of each 4-22 domestic violence fatality or unexpected death to be reviewed at a 4-23 meeting; and 4-24 (3) submit a report to the bureau of vital statistics 4-25 not later than the 30th day after the date the review occurred. 4-26 Sec. 93.005. REVIEW PROCEDURE. (a) A review team shall 4-27 review injuries, illnesses, or events that were the cause of a 5-1 death, as stated on the person's death certificate, that occurs in 5-2 the county. 5-3 (b) On receipt of the list of domestic violence fatalities 5-4 and unexpected deaths under Section 93.004(2), each review team 5-5 member shall review the member's records and, if appropriate, the 5-6 records of the member's agency for information regarding each 5-7 listed victim. 5-8 Sec. 93.006. ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) A review team may 5-9 request records and other information regarding a deceased person 5-10 as necessary to carry out the review team's purpose and duties. 5-11 Records and other information that may be requested under this 5-12 section include: 5-13 (1) medical, dental, and mental health information; 5-14 (2) information relating to social services provided 5-15 to the person and any emergency shelter the person may have used; 5-16 and 5-17 (3) information and records maintained by a state 5-18 agency or an agency of a political subdivision of the state, 5-19 including: 5-20 (A) a birth certificate; 5-21 (B) a law enforcement agency's investigative 5-22 information; 5-23 (C) the medical examiner's investigative 5-24 information, including autopsy and inquest; 5-25 (D) court records; 5-26 (E) parole and probation information and 5-27 records; and 6-1 (F) records and other information relating to 6-2 protective services. 6-3 (b) On request by the presiding officer of a review team, 6-4 the custodian of the relevant records or other information relating 6-5 to a deceased person shall provide the requested records to the 6-6 review team. 6-7 (c) Information relating to the mental health or medical 6-8 condition of a member of the deceased person's family or of any 6-9 alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse obtained as part of an 6-10 investigation by a state agency or an agency of a political 6-11 subdivision of the state may be provided to the review team. This 6-12 subsection does not authorize the release of the original or a copy 6-13 of a mental health or medical record of any member of the deceased 6-14 person's family or of any alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse 6-15 that is in the possession of a state agency or an agency of a 6-16 political subdivision of the state as provided by Subsection 6-17 (a)(3). 6-18 Sec. 93.007. MEETING OF REVIEW TEAM. (a) A meeting of the 6-19 review team is closed to the public and is not subject to Chapter 6-20 551, Government Code. 6-21 (b) This section does not prohibit a review team from 6-22 requesting the attendance at a closed meeting of a person who is 6-23 not a member of the review team and who has information regarding a 6-24 deceased person. 6-25 (c) Except as necessary to carry out a review team's purpose 6-26 and duties, a member of a review team and any other person 6-27 attending a review team meeting may not disclose what occurred at 7-1 the meeting. 7-2 Sec. 93.008. USE OF RECORDS AND OTHER INFORMATION; 7-3 CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) Records and other information acquired by a 7-4 review team in the exercise of its purpose and duties under this 7-5 chapter are confidential and are not public information for 7-6 purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. The records and other 7-7 information may be disclosed only as necessary to carry out the 7-8 review team's purpose or duties. 7-9 (b) A report prepared by a review team or a statistical 7-10 compilation of data prepared by a review team may be released under 7-11 this chapter only if the report or statistical compilation does not 7-12 contain any information that would permit the identification of an 7-13 individual. 7-14 (c) A member of a review team may not disclose any 7-15 information that is confidential under this section. 7-16 Sec. 93.009. STATUS OF REVIEW TEAM FOR PURPOSES OF OTHER 7-17 LAW. For the purposes of Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies 7-18 Code, a review team is a governmental unit and a unit of local 7-19 government. 7-20 Sec. 93.010. CIVIL LIABILITY FOR DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION. 7-21 Subject to the limits described in Section 101.023(b), Civil 7-22 Practice and Remedies Code, a team organized pursuant to this 7-23 chapter, or any member thereof, may be civilly liable for damages 7-24 caused by the disclosure of information gathered pursuant to an 7-25 investigation if such disclosure is made in violation of Section 7-26 93.007 and Section 93.008. 7-27 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.