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Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 49.15. Inquest Record

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Art. 49.15. [980] [1070] [1033] INQUEST RECORD.  (a) A 
justice of the peace or other person authorized under this 
subchapter to conduct an inquest shall make an inquest record for 
each inquest he conducts.  The inquest record must include a report 
of the events, proceedings, findings, and conclusions of the 
inquest.  The record must also include any autopsy prepared in the 
case and all other papers of the case.  All papers of the inquest 
record must be marked with the case number and be clearly indexed 
and be maintained in the office of the justice of the peace and be 
made available to the appropriate officials upon request.
	(b)  As part of the inquest record, the justice of the peace 
shall make and keep complete and permanent records of all inquest 
hearings.  The inquest hearing records must include:
	(1)  the name of the deceased person or, if the person is 
unidentified, a description of the body;
	(2)  the time, date, and place where the body was found;                       
	(3)  the time, date, and place where the inquest was held;                     
	(4)  the name of every witness who testified at the inquest;                   
	(5)  the name of every person who provided to the justice 
information pertinent to the inquest;
	(6)  the amount of bail set for each witness and person 
charged in the death;
	(7)  a transcript of the testimony given by each witness at 
the inquest hearing;
	(8)  the autopsy report, if an autopsy was performed;  and                     
	(9)  the name of every person arrested as a suspect in the 
death who appeared at the inquest and the details of that person's 
arrest.
	(c)  The commissioners court shall pay a reasonable fee to a 
person who records or transcribes sworn testimony during an inquest 
hearing.
	(d)  The justice of the peace shall certify a copy of the 
inquest summary report and deliver the certified copy in a sealed 
envelope to the clerk of the district court.  The clerk of the 
district court shall retain the summary report subject to an order 
by the district court.

Amended by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 529, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 
1987.       

Last modified: August 11, 2007