Texas Code of Criminal Procedure - Article 49.25. Medical Examiners
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Art. 49.25. [989A] MEDICAL EXAMINERS.
Office authorized
Sec. 1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the
Commissioners Court of any county having a population of more than
one million and not having a reputable medical school as defined in
Articles 4501 and 4503, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, shall
establish and maintain the office of medical examiner, and the
Commissioners Court of any county may establish and provide for the
maintenance of the office of medical examiner. Population shall be
according to the last preceding federal census.
Multi-county District; Joint Office
Sec. 1-a. (a) The commissioners courts of two or more
counties may enter into an agreement to create a medical examiners
district and to jointly operate and maintain the office of medical
examiner of the district. The district must include the entire area
of all counties involved. The counties within the district must,
when taken together, form a continuous area.
(b) There may be only one medical examiner in a medical
examiners district, although he may employ, within the district,
necessary staff personnel. When a county becomes a part of a
medical examiners district, the effect is the same within the
county as if the office of medical examiner had been established in
that county alone. The district medical examiner has all the powers
and duties within the district that a medical examiner who serves in
a single county has within that county.
(c) The commissioners court of any county which has become a
part of a medical examiners district may withdraw the county from
the district, but twelve months' notice of withdrawal must be given
to the commissioners courts of all other counties in the district.
Appointments and Qualifications
Sec. 2. The commissioners court shall appoint the medical
examiner, who shall serve at the pleasure of the commissioners
court. No person shall be appointed medical examiner unless he is a
physician licensed by the State Board of Medical Examiners. To the
greatest extent possible, the medical examiner shall be appointed
from persons having training and experience in pathology,
toxicology, histology and other medico-legal sciences. The medical
examiner shall devote so much of his time and energy as is necessary
in the performance of the duties conferred by this Article.
Assistants
Sec. 3. The medical examiner may, subject to the approval of
the commissioners court, employ such deputy examiners, scientific
experts, trained technicians, officers and employees as may be
necessary to the proper performance of the duties imposed by this
Article upon the medical examiner.
Salaries
Sec. 4. The commissioners court shall establish and pay the
salaries and compensations of the medical examiner and his staff.
Offices
Sec. 5. The commissioners court shall provide the medical
examiner and his staff with adequate office space and shall provide
laboratory facilities or make arrangements for the use of existing
laboratory facilities in the county, if so requested by the medical
examiner.
Death investigations
Sec. 6. (a) Any medical examiner, or his duly authorized
deputy, shall be authorized, and it shall be his duty, to hold
inquests with or without a jury within his county, in the following
cases:
1. When a person shall die within twenty-four hours after
admission to a hospital or institution or in prison or in jail;
2. When any person is killed; or from any cause dies an
unnatural death, except under sentence of the law; or dies in the
absence of one or more good witnesses;
3. When the body or a body part of a person is found, the cause
or circumstances of death are unknown, and:
(A) the person is identified; or
(B) the person is unidentified;
4. When the circumstances of the death of any person are such
as to lead to suspicion that he came to his death by unlawful means;
5. When any person commits suicide, or the circumstances of
his death are such as to lead to suspicion that he committed
suicide;
6. When a person dies without having been attended by a duly
licensed and practicing physician, and the local health officer or
registrar required to report the cause of death under Section
193.005, Health and Safety Code, does not know the cause of death.
When the local health officer or registrar of vital statistics
whose duty it is to certify the cause of death does not know the
cause of death, he shall so notify the medical examiner of the
county in which the death occurred and request an inquest;
7. When the person is a child who is younger than six years of
age and the death is reported under Chapter 264, Family Code; and
8. When a person dies who has been attended immediately
preceding his death by a duly licensed and practicing physician or
physicians, and such physician or physicians are not certain as to
the cause of death and are unable to certify with certainty the
cause of death as required by Section 193.004, Health and Safety
Code. In case of such uncertainty the attending physician or
physicians, or the superintendent or general manager of the
hospital or institution in which the deceased shall have died,
shall so report to the medical examiner of the county in which the
death occurred, and request an inquest.
(b) The inquests authorized and required by this Article
shall be held by the medical examiner of the county in which the
death occurred.
(c) In making such investigations and holding such
inquests, the medical examiner or an authorized deputy may
administer oaths and take affidavits. In the absence of next of kin
or legal representatives of the deceased, the medical examiner or
authorized deputy shall take charge of the body and all property
found with it.
Organ Transplant Donors; Notice; Inquests
Sec. 6a. (a) When death occurs to an individual designated a
prospective organ donor for transplantation by a licensed physician
under circumstances requiring the medical examiner of the county in
which death occurred, or the medical examiner's authorized deputy,
to hold an inquest, the medical examiner, or a member of his staff
will be so notified by the administrative head of the facility in
which the transplantation is to be performed.
(b) When notified pursuant to Subsection (a) of this
Section, the medical examiner or the medical examiner's deputy
shall perform an inquest on the deceased prospective organ donor.
Reports of Death
Sec. 7. (a) Any police officer, superintendent or general
manager of an institution, physician, or private citizen who shall
become aware of a death under any of the circumstances set out in
Section 6(a) of this Article, shall immediately report such death
to the office of the medical examiner or to the city or county
police departments; any such report to a city or county police
department shall be immediately transmitted to the office of the
medical examiner.
(b) A person investigating a death described by Subdivision
3(B) of Section 6(a) shall report the death to the missing children
and missing persons information clearinghouse of the Department of
Public Safety and the national crime information center not later
than the 10th working day after the date the investigation began.
(c) A superintendent or general manager of an institution
who reports a death under Subsection (a) must comply with the notice
and reporting requirements of Article 49.24. The office of the
attorney general has the same powers and duties provided the office
under that article regarding the dissemination and investigation of
the report.
Removal of Bodies
Sec. 8. When any death under circumstances set out in Section
6 shall have occurred, the body shall not be disturbed or removed
from the position in which it is found by any person without
authorization from the medical examiner or authorized deputy,
except for the purpose of preserving such body from loss or
destruction or maintaining the flow of traffic on a highway,
railroad or airport.
Autopsy
Sec. 9. (a) If the cause of death shall be determined beyond a
reasonable doubt as a result of the investigation, the medical
examiner shall file a report thereof setting forth specifically the
cause of death with the district attorney or criminal district
attorney, or in a county in which there is no district attorney or
criminal district attorney with the county attorney, of the county
in which the death occurred. If in the opinion of the medical
examiner an autopsy is necessary, or if such is requested by the
district attorney or criminal district attorney, or county attorney
where there is no district attorney or criminal district attorney,
the autopsy shall be immediately performed by the medical examiner
or a duly authorized deputy. In those cases where a complete
autopsy is deemed unnecessary by the medical examiner to ascertain
the cause of death, the medical examiner may perform a limited
autopsy involving the taking of blood samples or any other samples
of body fluids, tissues or organs, in order to ascertain the cause
of death or whether a crime has been committed. In the case of a
body of a human being whose identity is unknown, the medical
examiner may authorize such investigative and laboratory tests and
processes as are required to determine its identity as well as the
cause of death. In performing an autopsy the medical examiner or
authorized deputy may use the facilities of any city or county
hospital within the county or such other facilities as are made
available. Upon completion of the autopsy, the medical examiner
shall file a report setting forth the findings in detail with the
office of the district attorney or criminal district attorney of
the county, or if there is no district attorney or criminal district
attorney, with the county attorney of the county.
(b) A medical examination on an unidentified person shall
include the following information to enable a timely and accurate
identification of the person:
(1) all available fingerprints and palm prints;
(2) dental charts and radiographs (X-rays) of the person's
teeth;
(3) frontal and lateral facial photographs with scale
indicated;
(4) notation and photographs, with scale indicated, of a
significant scar, mark, tattoo, or item of clothing or other
personal effect found with or near the body;
(5) notation of antemortem medical conditions;
(6) notation of observations pertinent to the estimation of
time of death; and
(7) precise documentation of the location of burial of the
remains.
(c) A medical examination on an unidentified person may
include the following information to enable a timely and accurate
identification of the person:
(1) full body radiographs (X-rays); and
(2) hair specimens with roots.
Disinterments and Cremations
Sec. 10. When a body upon which an inquest ought to have been
held has been interred, the medical examiner may cause it to be
disinterred for the purpose of holding such inquest.
Before any body, upon which an inquest is authorized by the
provisions of this Article, can be lawfully cremated, an autopsy
shall be performed thereon as provided in this Article, or a
certificate that no autopsy was necessary shall be furnished by the
medical examiner. Before any dead body can be lawfully cremated,
the owner or operator of the crematory shall demand and be furnished
with a certificate, signed by the medical examiner of the county in
which the death occurred showing that an autopsy was performed on
said body or that no autopsy thereon was necessary. It shall be the
duty of the medical examiner to determine whether or not, from all
the circumstances surrounding the death, an autopsy is necessary
prior to issuing a certificate under the provisions of this
section. No autopsy shall be required by the medical examiner as a
prerequisite to cremation in case death is caused by the
pestilential diseases of Asiatic cholera, bubonic plague, typhus
fever, or smallpox. All certificates furnished to the owner or
operator of a crematory by any medical examiner, under the terms of
this Article, shall be preserved by such owner or operator of such
crematory for a period of two years from the date of the cremation
of said body. A medical examiner is not required to perform an
autopsy on the body of a deceased person whose death was caused by a
communicable disease during a public health disaster.
Waiting Period Between Death and Cremation
Sec. 10a. The body of a deceased person shall not be cremated
within 48 hours after the time of death as indicated on the regular
death certificate, unless the death certificate indicates death was
caused by the pestilential diseases of Asiatic cholera, bubonic
plague, typhus fever, or smallpox, or unless the time requirement
is waived in writing by the county medical examiner or, in counties
not having a county medical examiner, a justice of the peace. In a
public health disaster, the commissioner of public health may
designate other communicable diseases for which cremation within 48
hours of the time of death is authorized.
Disposal of Unidentified Body
Sec. 10b. If the body of a deceased person is unidentified, a
person may not cremate or direct the cremation of the body under
this article. If the body is buried, the investigating agency
responsible for the burial shall record and maintain for not less
than 10 years all information pertaining to the body and the
location of burial.
Records
Sec. 11. The medical examiner shall keep full and complete
records properly indexed, giving the name if known of every person
whose death is investigated, the place where the body was found, the
date, the cause and manner of death, and shall issue a death
certificate. The full report and detailed findings of the autopsy,
if any, shall be a part of the record. Copies of all records shall
promptly be delivered to the proper district, county, or criminal
district attorney in any case where further investigation is
advisable. The records are subject to required public disclosure
in accordance with Chapter 552, Government Code, except that a
photograph or x-ray of a body taken during an autopsy is excepted
from required public disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552,
Government Code, but is subject to disclosure:
(1) under a subpoena or authority of other law; or
(2) if the photograph or x-ray is of the body of a person who
died while in the custody of law enforcement.
Transfer of Duties of Justice of Peace
Sec. 12. When the commissioners court of any county shall
establish the office of medical examiner, all powers and duties of
justices of the peace in such county relating to the investigation
of deaths and inquests shall vest in the office of the medical
examiner. Any subsequent General Law pertaining to the duties of
justices of the peace in death investigations and inquests shall
apply to the medical examiner in such counties as to the extent not
inconsistent with this Article, and all laws or parts of laws
otherwise in conflict herewith are hereby declared to be
inapplicable to this Article.
Use of Forensic Anthropologist
Sec. 13. On discovering the body or body part of a deceased
person in the circumstances described by Subdivision 3(B) of
Section 6(a), the medical examiner may request the aid of a forensic
anthropologist in the examination of the body or body part. The
forensic anthropologist must hold a doctoral degree in anthropology
with an emphasis in physical anthropology. The forensic
anthropologist shall attempt to establish whether the body or body
part is of a human or animal, whether evidence of childbirth,
injury, or disease exists, and the sex, race, age, stature, and
physical anomalies of the body or body part. The forensic
anthropologist may also attempt to establish the cause, manner, and
time of death.
Penalty
Sec. 14. (a) A person commits an offense if the person
knowingly violates this article.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
Acts 1965, 59th Leg., vol. 2, p. 317, ch. 722. Amended by Acts 1969,
61st Leg., p. 1033, ch. 336, Sec. 1, eff. May 27, 1969; Acts 1969,
61st Leg., p. 1619, ch. 500, Sec. 1, eff. June 10, 1969; Acts 1971,
62nd Leg., p. 1165, ch. 270, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 30, 1971; Acts 1975,
64th Leg., p. 1826, ch. 562, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1975.
Sec. 6a amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 1205, Sec. 1, eff. June
16, 1989; Sec. 1 amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 597, Sec. 58,
eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Sec. 6, subds. 6, 7 amended by Acts 1991, 72nd
Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 284(66), (67), eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Sec. 10
amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 284(69), eff. Sept. 1,
1991; Sec. 6 amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 255, Sec. 5, eff.
Sept. 1, 1995; amended by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 878, Sec. 4,
eff. Sept. 1, 1995; Secs. 6, 7, 9 amended by and Sec. 10b added by
Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 656, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Sec. 13
added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 656, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1997;
Sec. 14 renumbered from Sec. 13 and amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg.,
ch. 656, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Sec. 11 amended by Acts 1999,
76th Leg., ch. 607, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1999; Sec. 6(a) amended by
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 826, Sec. 6, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts
2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1295, Sec. 6; Sec. 7(a) amended by Acts 2003,
78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Sec. 7(c) added by
Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 894, Sec. 3, eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Secs. 10,
10a amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.191, eff. Sept.
1, 2003; Sec. 13 amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 826, Sec. 7,
eff. Sept. 1, 2003; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1295, Sec. 7, eff.
Sept. 1, 2003.
Article: 49.18 49.19 49.20 49.21 49.22 49.23 49.24 49.25 50.01 50.02 50.03 50.04 50.05 50.06 50.07
Last modified: August 10, 2007
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