Texas Government Code 501.055 – Report of Inmate Death
(a) If an inmate dies while in the custody of the department, an employee of the facility who is in charge of the inmate shall immediately notify the nearest justice of the peace serving in the county in which the inmate died and the office of internal affairs for the department. The justice shall personally inspect the body and make an inquiry as to the cause of death. The justice shall make written copies of evidence taken during the inquest, and give one copy to the director and one copy to a district judge serving in the county in which the inmate died. The judge shall provide the copy to the grand jury and, if the judge determines the evidence indicates wrongdoing, instruct the grand jury to thoroughly investigate the cause of death.
(b) Subsection (a) does not apply if the inmate:
(1) dies of natural causes while attended by a physician or a registered nurse; or
(2) is lawfully executed.
Terms Used In Texas Government Code 501.055
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Grand jury: agreement providing that a lender will delay exercising its rights (in the case of a mortgage,
- Justice: when applied to a magistrate, means justice of the peace. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) If an inmate dies as described by Subsection (b)(1), the department or an authorized official of the department shall immediately attempt to notify the next of kin of the inmate that the inmate has died, state the time of the inmate’s death, and inform the next of kin that unless the next of kin objects to the department within eight hours of the stated time of death, an autopsy will be conducted on the inmate.
(d) If the next of kin consents to the autopsy or does not within eight hours of the time of death file an objection with the department about the autopsy, the department or an authorized official of the department shall order an autopsy to be conducted on the inmate. The order of an autopsy under this subsection constitutes consent to an autopsy for the purposes of Article 49.32, Code of Criminal Procedure.
(e) For purposes of this section, an “inmate in the custody of the department” is a convicted felon who:
(1) is confined in a secure correctional facility operated by or under contract with the department; or
(2) has been admitted for treatment into a hospital while remaining in the custody of the department.