Art. 49.18. DEATH IN CUSTODY.  (a)  If a person confined in a penal institution dies, the sheriff or other person in charge of the penal institution shall as soon as practicable inform the justice of the peace of the precinct where the penal institution is located of the death.
(b) 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 incarcerated 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 incarcerated shall investigate the death and file a written report of the cause of death with the attorney general no later than the 30th day after the date on which the person in custody or the incarcerated person died.  The director shall make a good faith effort to obtain all facts relevant to the death and include those facts in the report.  The attorney general shall make the report, with the exception of any portion of the report that the attorney general determines is privileged, available to any interested person.
(c) Subsection (a) does not apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  Subsection (b) does not apply to a death that occurs in a facility operated by or under contract with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice if the death occurs under circumstances described by Section 501.055(b)(2), Government Code.
(d) In this article:
(1)  "Correctional facility" means a confinement facility or halfway house operated by or under contract with any division of 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.
Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 529, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1987;  Subsec. (c) added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 321, Sec. 1.106, eff. Sept. 1, 1995;  Subsec. (c) amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1422, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 1997;  Subsec. (b) amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Subsec. (c) amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Subsec. (d) added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by: 
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 734 (H.B. 1549), Sec. 5, eff. September 1, 2015.