Art. 49.24. NOTIFICATION AND REPORT OF DEATH OF RESIDENT OF INSTITUTION.  (a)  A superintendent or general manager of an institution who is required by Article 49.04 to report to a justice of the peace the death of an individual under the care, custody, or control of or residing in the institution shall:
(1) notify the office of the attorney general of the individual's death within 24 hours of the death;  and
(2) prepare and submit to the office of the attorney general a report containing all facts relevant to the individual's death within 72 hours of the death.
(b) The superintendent or general manager of the institution shall make a good faith effort to obtain all facts relevant to an individual's death and to include those facts in the report submitted under Subsection (a)(2).
(c) The office of the attorney general may investigate each death reported to the office by an institution that receives payments through the medical assistance program under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), the office of the attorney general shall make a report submitted under Subsection (a)(2) available to any interested person who submits a written request for access to the report.
(e) The office of the attorney general may deny a person access to a report or a portion of a report filed under Subsection (a)(2) if the office determines that the report or a portion of the report is:
(1) privileged from discovery;  or
(2) exempt from required public disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
(f) This article does not relieve a superintendent or general manager of an institution of the duty of making any other notification or report of an individual's death as required by law.
(g)  For the purposes of this article, the definition of "institution" excludes hospitals.
Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.
Amended by: 
Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 392 (S.B. 1469), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2005.