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TexasHB 161089th Legislature Regular SessionHouse

Relating to the nonsubstantive revision of certain provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, including conforming amendments.

Sponsored By: Nathan Johnson (Democratic), Jeff Leach

Became Law

Criminal Procedure--GeneralStatutory Revision

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

21 provisions identified: 9 benefits, 2 costs, 10 mixed.

Families have ordered autopsy consent rights

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules generally require written informed consent on a state form before a physician performs or assists with an autopsy. Priority goes to the spouse, guardian or estate representative, adult children, parents, then adult siblings; reasonably available higher-priority people take precedence. One person in a priority group may consent unless another objects, when a majority of reasonably available members must agree. The form explains examination limits, organ or tissue removal and retention, and disposal options. After diligent efforts fail to find or contact an authorized person, an appropriate examiner, justice, or county judge may authorize examination 24 to 48 hours after death or possession of the body. Consent is not required for legally required examinations or those ordered by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice under the stated authority.

Family violence victims get safety help

Beginning April 1, 2027, the law reorganizes existing rules without substantive changes. Officers must give possible adult family violence victims the state's written safety notice and explain reasonable ways to prevent further violence. Officers may share local resources and stay while victims move their own or a child's belongings to safety. This help is optional, and officers receive specified liability protections, including protection against liability for a victim's wrongful taking of property. Victims who ask must receive the covered, nonexempt parts of incident reports for free.

Protective orders support family violence victims

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require police departments and sheriffs to give officers access to protective-order information. Officers must accept certified copies unless the order has ended, is more than one year old, or was vacated. Prosecutors responsible for applications must notify local law enforcement; filing decisions should not depend on a criminal complaint. Prosecutors may require applicants to provide information for an offense report. Courts cannot send victims or defendants in family violence criminal cases to mediation, arbitration, or similar processes.

Death reports support investigations and care

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require medical examiners to report each inquiry's autopsy findings to the appropriate prosecutor. Reports must state a specific cause of death when established beyond a reasonable doubt. Examiners must keep indexed records, issue death certificates, and promptly share records when further investigation is advisable. They may also share confidential autopsy reports with eligible hospitals or organ and tissue organizations that treated the person or procured an anatomical gift. Reports shared with those entities are not subject to state public-records disclosure.

Medical examiners perform needed autopsies

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require an immediate autopsy when the medical examiner finds it necessary or a listed prosecutor requests it. An autopsy is not required for a communicable-disease death during a public health disaster. Examiners may use a limited examination of blood, other fluids, tissues, or organs when a full autopsy is unnecessary to determine the cause.

Officer protections for family violence victims

Beginning April 1, 2027, the law restates family violence protections in a reorganized code. Officers investigating allegations or answering possible family violence calls must protect potential victims, enforce laws, and make lawful arrests. These duties include enforcing applicable out-of-state protective orders, regardless of family or household ties. Courts and prosecutors cannot delay or dismiss criminal cases because a related civil case is pending or absent. They cannot require someone to join a divorce or parent-child court case before the criminal case proceeds.

Officers report violence involving foster homes

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require officers to document family violence calls, including the parties, injuries, outcome, and military status. Officers must send incident information to the state records office and notify military authorities when the suspect is a military member or on active duty. Officers must check involved addresses against foster homes listed in the Texas Crime Information Center. A match for the incident location or an involved person's known address requires a child-protection report within 24 hours. That deadline runs from the investigation's start or receipt of the call.

Public access to death investigation records

Beginning April 1, 2027, the reorganized law generally makes specified medical examiner records available to the public. A discretionary exception under state public-records law can allow records to be withheld. Autopsy photos and x-rays generally do not have to be released. They may be disclosed under a subpoena or other law, or when showing someone who died in law-enforcement custody.

Unsafe food and medicine destroyed after convictions

Beginning April 1, 2027, the reorganized law retains rules for destroying unsafe food and adulterated medicine. After a seller is convicted of selling these products, the court must order officers to seize and destroy them. This requirement covers only the unsafe food or adulterated medicine still in that seller’s possession.

Death suspects face arrest and bail

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules let a justice conducting a death inquiry issue an arrest warrant. Grounds include personal knowledge, an affidavit alleging the suspect caused the death, or hearing evidence establishing probable cause. Officers must execute the warrant immediately and hold the person until a proper authority orders release. After the inquiry, an arrested person may face jail or a secured bail bond if found to have caused or contributed to the death.

Medical examiner services can carry fees

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules allow fees for medical examiner services, including cremation approvals, testimony, consultations, and depositions. The county commissioners court must approve each fee amount before it is charged. Fees cannot exceed the cost of providing the service. The county district attorney and county offices cannot be charged; the law sets no fixed fee amount.

Families can request paid independent autopsies

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require institutions to explain the right to an independent autopsy or review. A person authorized to consent can request an unaffiliated physician to perform the examination at another institution. They can also request an unaffiliated physician to review an examination performed by the institution's physician. The requester must pay the added costs; the law sets no dollar amount.

Families face cremation waits and safeguards

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules generally bar cremation for 48 hours after the death time on the certificate. Exceptions cover Asiatic cholera, bubonic plague, typhus fever, smallpox, or a written waiver from the examiner or, where none exists, a justice. During a public health disaster, the state health agency may add communicable diseases to the exceptions. These safeguards preserve time for investigation; bodies under an authorized inquiry must be identified and have an autopsy completed or ruled unnecessary. Crematories must obtain the medical examiner's certificate and keep it for two years; violating the waiting rule is a Class B misdemeanor.

Harmful businesses face restrictions and bonds

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules let courts restrict businesses or trades that harm neighborhood health after formal charges and a hearing. These restrictions protect nearby residents. After conviction, the restriction becomes permanent and the defendant must post a court-set bond against continuing the harmful activity. Refusing the bond can lead to confinement or seizure and destruction of property used in the activity. The state has two years after a breach to sue for recovery on the bond.

Counties can hire paid death investigators

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules let counties create death-investigator offices and hire trained or experienced investigators. Investigators may help examine a death or secure the deceased person's premises under the inquiry leader's supervision. They must report their work and findings within eight hours after finishing the investigation. Counties pay employed investigators at amounts set by the commissioners court; the law sets no salary or office budget.

Counties fund medical examiner offices

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require counties with more than 2.5 million people to maintain medical examiner offices; others may choose to. Two or more counties forming a continuous area may share one examiner through a district covering each county's full area. Leaving a district requires 12 months' notice to the other counties. Medical examiner offices take over justices' death-investigation duties, and counties pay compensation and provide offices and requested laboratory access. Examiners need a Texas medical license or a provisional Texas license after applying while licensed and in good standing elsewhere.

Custody deaths require investigation and reports

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require responsible directors to investigate covered custody deaths and report to the Texas Attorney General within 30 days. Covered deaths include peace-officer custody, officer use of force, and confinement in listed jail, correctional, or state juvenile facilities. Directors must make a good-faith effort to include all relevant facts, and interested people can access reports except privileged portions. These requirements concern inquiries in counties without a medical examiner office or district. The law excludes Texas prison-system deaths described in Government Code Section 501.055(b)(2).

Death inquiry hearings preserve evidence

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require justices of the peace to keep permanent death inquiry records, including findings and autopsy reports. Witnesses must testify under oath, and the justice must sign the written testimony; counties pay reasonable recording or transcription fees. Only the justice, the person charged and their lawyer, and the state's lawyer may question witnesses. Disruptive people may be removed and fined up to $100. Properly summoned jurors who miss a hearing also face up to $100, unless legally exempt. Justices must place relevant physical evidence with law enforcement and may reopen inquiries when credible information suggests a different cause or circumstances.

Institutions must promptly report covered deaths

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require covered institutions to notify the Texas Attorney General of reportable deaths within 24 hours. A report of relevant facts is due within 72 hours, with a good-faith effort to obtain those facts. Reporting to police or a medical examiner does not replace these duties. The Attorney General may investigate reports involving institutions receiving medical assistance payments. Interested people can request reports in writing, except material protected by privilege or public-disclosure exemptions.

Unexplained deaths require investigation and reporting

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require medical examiner inquiries into unnatural, unexplained, unattended, possibly unlawful, and possible suicide deaths. They also cover deaths in prison or jail, deaths within 24 hours of institutional admission, and listed child-under-six and prospective-donor deaths. People who learn of a covered death must report it immediately; police must immediately forward reports to the examiner. Bodies cannot be moved or disturbed without approval, except to prevent loss or destruction or keep road, rail, or airport traffic moving. An examiner may order a body dug up when a required inquiry was missed before burial.

Unidentified bodies get tracking and safeguards

Beginning April 1, 2027, reorganized rules require covered unidentified deaths to reach state missing-person and national crime databases within 10 working days of investigation. National Missing and Unidentified Persons System entries are due by the earlier of 10 working days after identifying features are determined or 60 days after investigation starts. Examinations must document identifying details, and examiners may authorize testing or seek forensic anthropology help. Unidentified bodies cannot be cremated; burial and body information must be kept for at least 10 years. When there is no next of kin or legal representative, the examiner must take charge of the body and property found with it.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsors

  • Nathan Johnson

    Democratic • Senate

  • Jeff Leach

    House

Cosponsors

  • David Spiller

    House

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 415 • No: 35

Senate vote • 5/14/2025

Record vote

Yes: 0 • No: 0

Senate vote • 5/14/2025

Record vote

Yes: 0 • No: 0

House vote • 5/7/2025

Record vote

Yes: 147 • No: 0

House vote • 5/6/2025

Record vote

Yes: 136 • No: 7

House vote • 4/29/2025

Record vote

Yes: 114 • No: 28

Senate vote • Unknown

Committee vote: Administration

Yes: 7 • No: 0

House vote • Unknown

Committee vote: Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence

Yes: 11 • No: 0

Actions Timeline

  1. Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (April 1, 2027)

    5/28/2025House

  2. Filed without the Governor's signature

    5/28/2025House

  3. Sent to the Governor

    5/16/2025House

  4. Signed in the Senate

    5/16/2025Senate

  5. Signed in the House

    5/15/2025House

  6. Reported enrolled

    5/15/2025House

  7. Senate passage reported

    5/14/2025House

  8. Record vote

    5/14/2025Senate

  9. Passed

    5/14/2025Senate

  10. Read 3rd time

    5/14/2025Senate

  11. Record vote

    5/14/2025Senate

  12. Three day rule suspended

    5/14/2025Senate

  13. Vote recorded in Journal

    5/14/2025Senate

  14. Read 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading

    5/14/2025Senate

  15. Laid before the Senate

    5/14/2025Senate

  16. Placed on local & uncontested calendar

    5/14/2025Senate

  17. Recommended for local & uncontested calendar

    5/12/2025Senate

  18. Reported favorably w/o amendments

    5/12/2025Senate

  19. Vote taken in committee

    5/12/2025Senate

  20. Considered in public hearing

    5/12/2025Senate

  21. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .

    5/12/2025Senate

  22. Referred to Administration

    5/8/2025Senate

  23. Read first time

    5/8/2025Senate

  24. Received from the House

    5/7/2025Senate

  25. Reported engrossed

    5/7/2025House

Bill Text

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