Art. 43.25. BODY OF CONVICT.  The body of a convict who has been legally executed shall be embalmed immediately and so directed by the Director of the correctional institutions division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  If the body is not demanded or requested by a relative or bona fide friend within forty-eight hours after execution then it shall be delivered to the Texas Funeral Service Commission, if requested by the commission.  If the body is requested by a relative, a bona fide friend, or the Texas Funeral Service Commission, such recipient shall pay a fee not to exceed twenty-five dollars to the mortician for the mortician's services in embalming the body for which the mortician shall issue to the recipient a written receipt.  When such receipt is delivered to the Director of the correctional institutions division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, the body of the deceased shall be delivered to the party named in the receipt or the party's authorized agent.  If the body is not delivered to a relative, a bona fide friend, or the Texas Funeral Service Commission, the Director of the correctional institutions division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice shall cause the body to be decently buried, and the fee for embalming shall be paid by the county in which the indictment which resulted in conviction was found.
Amended by: 
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 961 (S.B. 2040), Sec. 2.01, eff. September 1, 2023.