HBA-JEK H.B. 1962 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1962
By: Kolkhorst
Corrections
3/18/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the death certificate of an inmate of the Texas
Department of Criminal Justice who is lawfully executed classifies the
death as homicide, the same classification that the inmate's victim
receives. In 1976, Department of Public Safety trooper Mark Frederick was
shot and killed in the line of duty in Austin County.  Billy George Hughes
was convicted of the murder and executed.  Both Billy George Hughes and
Trooper Mark Frederick received the designation of homicide as the cause of
death on their death certificates.  House Bill 1962 creates an additional
category classifying the cause of death as legal execution for executed
inmates. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 1962 amends the Health and Safety Code to require the death
certificate of a decedent who was an inmate of the Texas Department of
Criminal Justice at the time of death and who was lawfully executed to
classify the death as a death caused by legal execution. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.