By Truitt H.B. No. 2676
77R8151 JMM-F
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) providing assistance, direction, and coordination
3-22 to investigations of domestic violence deaths and unexpected
3-23 deaths;
3-24 (2) promoting cooperation, communication, and
3-25 coordination among agencies involved in responding to domestic
3-26 violence deaths in the county;
3-27 (3) recommending changes to agencies, through the
4-1 appropriate review team member, that will reduce the number of
4-2 preventable domestic violence deaths; and
4-3 (4) addressing the need for changes to law, policy, or
4-4 practice that will assist the team and the represented agencies in
4-5 fulfilling their duties.
4-6 (b) To achieve its purpose, a review team shall:
4-7 (1) develop and implement protocols and procedures for
4-8 handling each domestic violence fatality case;
4-9 (2) investigate ways to implement the recommendations
4-10 made by the team;
4-11 (3) meet on a regular basis to review domestic
4-12 violence fatality cases and recommend methods to improve the
4-13 coordination of services and investigations between agencies that
4-14 are represented on the team;
4-15 (4) collect and maintain data; and
4-16 (5) submit to the bureau of vital statistics reports
4-17 on deaths reviewed by the team.
4-18 (c) A review team shall initiate prevention measures as
4-19 indicated by the review team's findings.
4-20 Sec. 93.004. DUTIES OF PRESIDING OFFICER. A review team
4-21 shall designate a presiding officer for the team who shall:
4-22 (1) send to the review team members notices of each
4-23 meeting to review a domestic violence fatality or unexpected death;
4-24 (2) provide to the review team members a list of each
4-25 domestic violence fatality or unexpected death to be reviewed at a
4-26 meeting; and
4-27 (3) submit a report to the bureau of vital statistics
5-1 not later than the 30th day after the date the review occurred.
5-2 Sec. 93.005. REVIEW PROCEDURE. (a) A review team shall
5-3 review injuries, illnesses, or events that were the cause of a
5-4 death, as stated on the person's death certificate, that occurs in
5-5 the county.
5-6 (b) On receipt of the list of domestic violence fatalities
5-7 and unexpected deaths under Section 93.004(2), each review team
5-8 member shall review the member's records and, if appropriate, the
5-9 records of the member's agency for information regarding each
5-10 listed victim.
5-11 Sec. 93.006. ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) A review team may
5-12 request records and other information regarding a deceased person
5-13 as necessary to carry out the review team's purpose and duties.
5-14 Records and other information that may be requested under this
5-15 section include:
5-16 (1) medical, dental, and mental health information;
5-17 (2) information relating to social services provided
5-18 to the person and any emergency shelter the person may have used;
5-19 and
5-20 (3) information and records maintained by a state
5-21 agency or an agency of a political subdivision of the state,
5-22 including:
5-23 (A) a birth certificate;
5-24 (B) a law enforcement agency's investigative
5-25 information;
5-26 (C) the medical examiner's investigative
5-27 information, including autopsy and inquest;
6-1 (D) court records;
6-2 (E) parole and probation information and
6-3 records; and
6-4 (F) records and other information relating to
6-5 protective services.
6-6 (b) On request by the presiding officer of a review team,
6-7 the custodian of the relevant records or other information relating
6-8 to a deceased person shall provide the requested records to the
6-9 review team.
6-10 (c) Information relating to the mental health or medical
6-11 condition of a member of the deceased person's family or of any
6-12 alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse obtained as part of an
6-13 investigation by a state agency or an agency of a political
6-14 subdivision of the state may be provided to the review team. This
6-15 subsection does not authorize the release of the original or a copy
6-16 of a mental health or medical record of any member of the deceased
6-17 person's family or of any alleged or suspected perpetrator of abuse
6-18 that is in the possession of a state agency or an agency of a
6-19 political subdivision of the state as provided by Subsection
6-20 (a)(3).
6-21 Sec. 93.007. MEETING OF REVIEW TEAM. (a) A meeting of the
6-22 review team is closed to the public and is not subject to Chapter
6-23 551, Government Code.
6-24 (b) This section does not prohibit a review team from
6-25 requesting the attendance at a closed meeting of a person who is
6-26 not a member of the review team and who has information regarding a
6-27 deceased person.
7-1 (c) Except as necessary to carry out a review team's purpose
7-2 and duties, a member of a review team and any other person
7-3 attending a review team meeting may not disclose what occurred at
7-4 the meeting.
7-5 (d) A member of a review team participating in the review of
7-6 a domestic violence death is immune from civil or criminal
7-7 liability arising from information presented in or an opinion
7-8 formed as a result of the meeting.
7-9 Sec. 93.008. USE OF RECORDS AND OTHER INFORMATION;
7-10 CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) Records and other information acquired by a
7-11 review team in the exercise of its purpose and duties under this
7-12 chapter are confidential and are not public information for
7-13 purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. The records and other
7-14 information may be disclosed only as necessary to carry out the
7-15 review team's purpose or duties.
7-16 (b) A report prepared by a review team or a statistical
7-17 compilation of data prepared by a review team may be released under
7-18 this chapter only if the report or statistical compilation does not
7-19 contain any information that would permit the identification of an
7-20 individual.
7-21 (c) A member of a review team may not disclose any
7-22 information that is confidential under this section.
7-23 (d) Records and other information of a review team that are
7-24 confidential under this section are not subject to subpoena or
7-25 discovery and may not be introduced into evidence in any civil or
7-26 criminal proceeding. Notwithstanding this subsection, records and
7-27 other information that are available from other sources are not
8-1 exempt from subpoena, discovery, or introduction into evidence
8-2 solely because the records or other information were presented
8-3 during the proceedings of a review team or are maintained by a
8-4 review team.
8-5 Sec. 93.009. STATUS OF REVIEW TEAM FOR PURPOSES OF OTHER
8-6 LAW. For the purposes of Chapter 101, Civil Practice and Remedies
8-7 Code, a review team is a governmental unit and a unit of local
8-8 government.
8-9 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.