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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - CRIM P Art. § 49A.153. County Served by Justice of the Peace:  Investigation and Report of Death Occurring While Confined or in Peace Officer Custody

Current as of January 01, 2024 | Updated by Findlaw Staff

<Text of article effective April 1, 2027. >

(a) In this article:

(1) “Correctional facility” means a confinement facility or halfway house operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

(2) “In the custody of a peace officer” means:

(A) under arrest by a peace officer;  or

(B) under the physical control or restraint of a peace officer.

(3) “State juvenile facility” means any facility or halfway house:

(A) operated by or under contract with the Texas Juvenile Justice Department;  or

(B) described by Section 51.02(13) or (14), Family Code.

(b) This article applies to the inquest into a death occurring in a county described by Article 49A.051.

(c) If a person dies while in the custody of a peace officer or as a result of a peace officer's use of force or if a person confined in a jail, correctional facility, or state juvenile facility dies, the director of the law enforcement agency of which the officer is a member or of the facility in which the person was confined shall:

(1) not later than the 30th day after the date on which the person died, investigate the death and file a written report of the cause of death with the attorney general;  and

(2) make a good faith effort to obtain all facts relevant to the death and include those facts in the report described by Subdivision (1).

(d) The attorney general shall make the report available to any interested person but may exclude any part of the report that the attorney general determines is privileged.

(e) Subsections (c) and (d) do not apply if a person's death occurs under circumstances described by Section 501.055(b)(2), Government Code, in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

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Cite this article: FindLaw.com - Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - CRIM P Art. § 49A.153. County Served by Justice of the Peace:  Investigation and Report of Death Occurring While Confined or in Peace Officer Custody - last updated January 01, 2024 | https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/code-of-criminal-procedure/crim-ptx-crim-pro-art-49a-153/

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