SRC-LBB S.B. 826 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 826
78R7859 TBy: Whitmire
Criminal Justice
3/27/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, state and local law enforcement and correctional agencies must
report custodial deaths to both the State Attorney General's Office and
the U.S. Department of Justice.  State and federal reporting requirements
mandate the use of different forms with duplicate data elements and follow
different definitions for what constitutes a reportable death in custody.
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure requires superintendents or general
managers of institutions, including nursing homes, extended care
facilities, and retirement homes, to notify the local justice of the peace
if a person residing in an institution dies and there is no attending
physician or the physician is not able to certify the cause of death.  As
proposed, S.B. 826 changes state reporting requirements to match those of
the federal government.  This bill also requires notification of the
attorney general, in addition to the justice of the peace, if a person
residing in an institution dies and there is no attending physician or the
physician is not able to certify the cause of death. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Chapter 49, Code of Criminal Procedure, by adding
Article 49.24, as follows: 

Art. 49.24.  NOTIFICATION AND REPORT OF DEATH OF RESIDENT OF INSTITUTION.
(a)  Requires the superintendent or general manager, in addition to any
other notification or report required by law, if a person dies while in
the care or custody of, or while residing in, an institution, and the
superintendent or general manager of the institution is required by
Article 49.04 of this code to notify a justice of the peace of the death,
to not later than 24 hours after the person's death, notify the attorney
general of that person's death, and not later than 72 hours after the
person's death, prepare and submit to the attorney general a report
containing all facts relevant to the death.  Requires the superintendent
or general manager of the institution to make a good faith effort to
obtain all facts relevant to the death and include those facts in the
report. 

(b)  Authorizes the attorney general to investigate each death reported to
him by an institution that receives payments through the medical
assistance program provided under Chapter 32 (Medical Assistance Program),
Human Resources Code. 

(c)  Requires the attorney general to make the report submitted pursuant
to Subsection (a), with the exception of any portion of the report that
the attorney general determines is privileged from discovery or excepted
from required public disclosure under Chapter 552 (Public Information),
Government Code, available to any interested person, when requested in
writing. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Chapter 38, Penal Code,  by adding Section 38.19, as
follows: 

Sec. 38.19.  FAILURE TO REPORT DEATH OF RESIDENT OF INSTITUTION.  (a)
Provides that a person commits an offense if the person is required to
notify and prepare and submit a report to the attorney general by Article
49.24, Code of Criminal Procedure, and the person fails to provide notice
of the death, fails to file the report as required, or fails to include in
a filed report facts known or discovered by the person. 
  (b)  Provides that an offense under this section is a Class B
misdemeanor. 

SECTION 3.  (a) and (b) Make application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.