Inquest Record

Art. 49A.071. 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 the justice or person conducts. The inquest record must include: (1) a report of the events, proceedings, findings, and conclusions of the inquest; (2) any autopsy report prepared in the case; and (3) all other papers of the case. (b) As part of the inquest record, the justice of the peace shall make and keep a complete and permanent record of each inquest hearing. The inquest hearing record 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 each witness who testified at the inquest; (5) the name of each person who provided to the justice information relevant to the inquest; (6) the amount of bail set for each witness and for each 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 each person arrested as a suspect in the death who appeared at the inquest and the details of that person's arrest. (c) All papers of the inquest record must be: (1) marked with the case number; (2) clearly indexed; (3) maintained in the office of the justice of the peace; and (4) made available to the appropriate officials on request. (d) The commissioners court shall pay a reasonable fee to a person who records or transcribes sworn testimony during an inquest hearing. Added by Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 202 (H.B. 1610), Sec. 1.01, eff. April 1, 2027. Text of article effective on April 01, 2027