(a) A justice of the peace or other person authorized under this subchapter to conduct an inquest shall make an inquest record for each inquest he conducts. The inquest record must include a report of the events, proceedings, findings, and conclusions of the inquest. The record must also include any autopsy prepared in the case and all other papers of the case. All papers of the inquest record must be marked with the case number and be clearly indexed and be maintained in the office of the justice of the peace and be made available to the appropriate officials upon request.
(b) As part of the inquest record, the justice of the peace shall make and keep complete and permanent records of all inquest hearings. The inquest hearing records must include:
(1) the name of the deceased person or, if the person is unidentified, a description of the body;
(2) the time, date, and place where the body was found;
(3) the time, date, and place where the inquest was held;
(4) the name of every witness who testified at the inquest;
(5) the name of every person who provided to the justice information pertinent to the inquest;
(6) the amount of bail set for each witness and person charged in the death;
(7) a transcript of the testimony given by each witness at the inquest hearing;
(8) the autopsy report, if an autopsy was performed; and
(9) the name of every person arrested as a suspect in the death who appeared at the inquest and the details of that person’s arrest.

Terms Used In Texas Code of Criminal Procedure 49.15

  • Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
  • Bail: Security given for the release of a criminal defendant or witness from legal custody (usually in the form of money) to secure his/her appearance on the day and time appointed.
  • Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
  • Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
  • sworn: includes affirm or affirmed. See Texas Government Code 312.011
  • Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
  • Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.

(c) The commissioners court shall pay a reasonable fee to a person who records or transcribes sworn testimony during an inquest hearing.
(d) Repealed by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 716 (H.B. 300), Sec. 2, eff. June 10, 2019.

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