119-hr2718

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2718 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 2718

To establish Federal policies and procedures to notify the next-of-kin 
 or other emergency contact upon the death, or serious illness or 
 serious injury, of an individual in Federal custody, to provide model 
 policies for States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes to 
 implement and enforce similar policies and procedures, and for other 
 purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 April 8, 2025

 Ms. Kamlager-Dove (for herself, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Rutherford, 
 Mr. Ivey, Ms. Norton, and Mrs. McIver) introduced the following bill; 
 which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To establish Federal policies and procedures to notify the next-of-kin 
 or other emergency contact upon the death, or serious illness or 
 serious injury, of an individual in Federal custody, to provide model 
 policies for States, units of local government, and Indian Tribes to 
 implement and enforce similar policies and procedures, and for other 
 purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Family Notification of Death, 
Injury, or Illness in Custody Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) In the event an individual dies or becomes seriously 
 ill or injured while being detained, arrested, or while in law 
 enforcement custody, their family members deserve to be 
 notified in a timely and compassionate manner. Such 
 notification is necessary to uphold the basic human dignity of 
 incarcerated people, a concept rooted in the Eighteenth 
 Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

    (2) The lack of a national standard governing notification 
 of death, illness, and injury that occur in prisons, jails and 
 police custody can lead to inhumane treatment of incarcerated 
 people and their loved ones. Poor communication regarding the 
 death of a loved one may exacerbate the grief and other 
 physical and psychological reactions of surviving relatives.

    (3) On Easter Sunday of 2016, Wakiesha Wilson was found 
 dead in her cell in the Los Angeles Police Department's 
 Metropolitan Detention Center. Her mother called the police to 
 determine Ms. Wilson's whereabouts but was not initially given 
 any information. It was not until March 30, 3 days later, when 
 Ms. Wilson's mother was told to call the coroner that she 
 learned her daughter had died.

    (4) In Georgia, Jennifer Bradley testified before the 
 General Assembly in September 2021 that she is still waiting 
 for answers about the stabbing death of her 23-year-old son at 
 Macon State Prison in March 2020. She told the committee that 
 it was an incarcerated person, not a prison official, who first 
 notified her of her son's death. As of the hearing, she had not 
 yet received his belongings.

    (5) Jordan Fisher found out about the death of her father, 
 Thomas Willis, at Valdosta State Prison in Georgia when a 
 letter she had sent her father was returned back to her 
 stamped: ``Return to sender: inmate dead''. She was unable to 
 obtain further information about her father's death from prison 
 officials. What information she uncovered came from letters 
 from her father's cellmate.

    (6) Sara Roth did not receive notice from the Clayton 
 County Jail in Georgia that her mother, Regina Salman, had 
 fallen and suffered serious injuries, including a collapsed 
 lung that required hospitalization. When her mother's longtime 
 boyfriend went to visit the jail, he was told Ms. Salman was no 
 longer there but was not provided additional information. More 
 than a month later, the hospital called Ms. Roth and informed 
 her that her mother was on a ventilator and dying of a severe 
 brain tumor. Her mother was taken off the ventilator 3 days 
 later without ever regaining consciousness.

    (7) The failure to release autopsy results can prevent 
 families and loved ones from seeking justice for wrongful 
 deaths. After Harvey Hill was arrested for trespassing and 
 booked into jail in Canton, Mississippi, guards beat him 
 severely and kicked him repeatedly in the head. Mr. Hill died 
 in an isolation cell. The State medical examiner's report 
 recorded his death as a homicide, but it was not released until 
 25 months after his death and 13 months after the statute of 
 limitations expired for assault.

    (8) In recent years, deaths in custody have reached the 
 highest levels on record. In 2018, two years prior to the rapid 
 spread of COVID-19 behind bars, at least 1,120 people died 
 while detained in local jails and 4,513 people died in the 
 custody of State and Federal prisons. This represented an all-
 time high in the number of deaths in both local jails and State 
 prisons since the Bureau of Justice Statistics

    (BJS) started 
 collecting mortality data.

    (9) The spread of COVID-19 behind bars significantly 
 increased the death toll of people in custody. At least 2,700 
 people are estimated to have died of COVID-19 in prisons, jails 
 and detention centers, and the COVID-19 death rate in State and 
 Federal prisons between April 2020 and April 2021 was more than 
 double that of the general population. This is likely a 
 significant undercount, given uneven and inconsistent 
 reporting. In some instances, people are released from local 
 jails to die in hospitals, whether of COVID-19 or other causes, 
 and their deaths are not recorded as a death in custody.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

 In this Act:

    (1) Custodial record.--The term ``custodial record'' means 
 the central file of an individual in custody.

    (2) Detention agency.--The term ``detention agency'' means 
 any government agency, including a law enforcement agency or 
 correctional agency, that has the authority to detain people 
 for violations or alleged violations of criminal or civil law.

    (3) In custody of a detention agency.--The term ``in the 
 custody of a detention agency'' includes, but is not limited 
 to, a person who is detained, under arrest, or is in the 
 process of being arrested, is en route to be incarcerated, or 
 is incarcerated at a jail, prison, boot camp prison, contract 
 correctional facility, community correctional facility, or 
 other correctional facility (including any juvenile detention 
 facility).

    (4) Taking custody.--The term ``taking custody'' means the 
 point at which the detention agency takes custody or control of 
 an individual, including during or prior to booking or intake 
 screening as a new commitment, in transfer from another 
 institution, as a court return, as a return from a writ, or as 
 a holdover.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY CONTACT NOTIFICATION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.

    (a) Emergency Contact Notification Policies and Procedures.--Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney 
General shall, consistent with the requirements in this section--

    (1) implement policies and procedures for the detention 
 agencies of the Department of Justice to notify the next-of-kin 
 or other emergency contact in the event of the death, or 
 serious illness or serious injury, of an individual in the 
 custody of a detention agency of the Department of Justice; and

    (2) develop and distribute model policies and procedures 
 for detention agencies of States, territories of the United 
 States, Tribes, and units of local government to notify the 
 next-of-kin or other emergency contact in the event of the 
 death, or serious illness or serious injury, of an individual 
 in the custody of that detention agency, and provide assistance 
 to such detention agencies so that the agencies may implement 
 such procedures or substantially similar processes.

    (b) Contents of Emergency Contact Notification Policies and 
Procedures.--

    (1) Emergency contact information.--The policies and 
 procedures described in subsection

    (a) shall address the 
 collection and use of emergency contact information for 
 individuals in custody, including the following:
        (A) Emergency contact information requested upon 
 taking custody.--In the case of an individual taken 
 into the custody of a detention agency, the agency 
 shall, at the time of taking custody, ask the 
 individual--
            (i) for the name, last known address, 
 telephone number, and email of any person or 
 persons who shall be notified in the event of 
 the individual in custody's death or serious 
 illness or serious injury, and who are 
 authorized to receive the individual's body;
            (ii) the order in which the individual in 
 custody prefers the emergency contacts 
 described in clause
            (i) to be notified;
            (iii) whether the individual in custody 
 would like a faith leader to participate in 
 such notification process and, if so, of what 
 denomination; and
            (iv) whether the individual has in place a 
 medical proxy decision maker or medical power 
 of attorney, advanced directive, or do not 
 resuscitate order.
        (B) Emergency contact list modification.--The 
 detention agency shall permit an individual in custody 
 to modify their emergency contact information at any 
 time and provide a periodic opportunity, but not less 
 than annually, for individuals in custody to update 
 their emergency contact information and to fill out a 
 medical power of attorney, health care proxy, advanced 
 directive, a do not resuscitate order, or any other 
 similar document that complies with the State law in 
 the location of detention.
            (C) Disclosure of purpose and permissible uses of 
 emergency contact information.--The detention agency 
 shall provide the individual in custody information 
 about the purpose and permissible uses of the emergency 
 contact information provided pursuant to this section.
            (D) Standardized emergency contact form.--The 
 policies and procedures described in subsection

    (a) shall include a template form for recording the 
 individual in custody's next-of-kin or other emergency 
 contact and other information under subsection

    (b)

    (1)
        (A) .
        (E) Custodial record.--The detention agency shall 
 record the individual's next-of-kin or other emergency 
 contact information on the form described in 
 subparagraph
            (D) and include that form in the 
 individual's custodial record.

    (2) Notification requirements for death, serious illness, 
 and serious injury while in custody.--The policies and 
 procedures described in subsection

    (a) shall describe the 
 notification requirements in the event an individual dies, is 
 seriously injured or becomes seriously ill while in the custody 
 of a detention agency, including the following:
        (A) Notification timeframe.--
            (i) Notification of death.--In the event an 
 individual dies while in the custody of the 
 detention agency, the detention agency shall 
 notify the individual's emergency contact not 
 later than 12 hours after the declaration of 
 death and between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and to 
 midnight local time.
            (ii) Notification of serious illness or 
 serious injury.--Notice to the next-of-kin or 
 other emergency contact shall be made as soon 
 as practicable after the serious injury or 
 serious illness occurs, but in any event not 
 later than 48 hours from such determination and 
 between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and to midnight 
 local time. The notification should occur prior 
 to any required medical procedure, where 
 practical and if such timeframe will not delay 
 treatment, but in any event, not later than any 
 medical discharge or clearance.
        (B) Death notification information required.--
            (i) In general.--Such notification shall 
 include all pertinent circumstances surrounding 
 the death, including--
            (I) the official time of death;
            (II) the cause of death (if 
 determined); and
            (III) whether the individual's 
 death is under investigation and the 
 reason for opening an investigation.
            (ii) No cause of death determined.--If the 
 cause of death has not been determined at the 
 time of the notification, the detention agency 
 shall follow up with the individual's emergency 
 contact once such a determination has been made 
 to provide that information within 24 hours of 
 such determination.
            (C) Serious illness or serious injury notification 
 information required.--Such notification shall include 
 pertinent details of the serious injury or serious 
 illness, including--
            (i) the cause and nature of the serious 
 injury or serious illness event;
            (ii) whether the individual is 
 incapacitated, unconscious, or unable to speak;
            (iii) whether any medical procedures or 
 lifesaving measures were, or will be, performed 
 in response to the incident; and
            (iv) contact information of the facility 
 and provider that is providing medical 
 treatment.
            (D) Definition of serious illness or serious 
 injury.--The policies and procedures described in 
 subsection

    (a) shall define when a medical event, 
 episode, condition, accident, or other incident 
 constitutes a serious illness or serious injury. In 
 defining such term, the Attorney General shall require 
 notification at least in cases in which--
            (i) without immediate treatment for the 
 condition, death is imminent;
            (ii) admission to a hospital is required;
            (iii) an individual is unconscious or 
 incapacitated such that they are incapable of 
 providing consent for medical treatment; and
            (iv) an individual has been diagnosed with 
 a terminal illness.
        (E) Additional requirements related to 
 notification.--The policies and procedures described in 
 subsection

    (a) shall include the following:
            (i) Compassionate and professional 
 notification.--Standards for providing 
 notification in a compassionate and 
 professional manner to minimize confusion and 
 trauma suffered by the next-of-kin or other 
 emergency contact, including--
            (I) a description of what 
 information cannot be included in a 
 voicemail, such as notification of 
 death or serious illness;
            (II) an offer for an in-person or 
 virtual face-to-face meeting in the 
 event a notification of a death in 
 custody is provided to the emergency 
 contact during a live conversation over 
 the phone; and
            (III) a requirement that 
 notifications are provided in a private 
 setting and, when practicable, in 
 person and by a mental health 
 professional, designated case worker, 
 or chaplain trained in notification 
 best practices.

    (3) Notification opt out.--Standards to ensure that 
 notifications should not occur where the individual is advised 
 of their right to notification and instructs the agency not to 
 do so, or where they request the opportunity to provide such 
 notification personally, in which case the detention agency 
 shall provide an opportunity for the individual to deliver such 
 notification within the time period identified above.

    (4) Belongings and remains.--Standards for handling the 
 belongings and remains of an individual who died in custody, 
 including--
        (A) returning the individual's belongings and 
 remains, if desired, to the next-of-kin or other 
 emergency contact and providing at least 7 days for the 
 emergency contact to make a decision as to the 
 disposition of the belongings and remains;
        (B) following up with the individual's next-of-kin 
 or other emergency contact in the event of a death in 
 custody with the outcome of any critical incident 
 review or other internal investigations not available 
 at the time of the initial notification; and
            (C) documenting and maintaining within the 
 individual's custodial record any incident of unclaimed 
 or a rejected claim for the body or property of the 
 deceased, including a detailed description of where any 
 unclaimed body and property have been disposed.

    (5) Documentation of attempts.--Requirements that each 
 notification attempt shall be documented and maintained within 
 the custodial record, including--
        (A) the staff name and corresponding agency or 
 department contact information for each individual 
 responsible for carrying out the notification;
        (B) the date and time of each successful and 
 unsuccessful contact; and
            (C) the name and contact information to which each 
 attempt was made, and any reason for failed or 
 unsuccessful contact.

    (6) Additional procedures in the event of serious illness 
 or injury.--Standards to ensure that detention agencies--
        (A) implement medical proxy decision maker or 
 medical power of attorney, advanced directive, or ``do 
 not resuscitate'' orders;
        (B) provide meaningful opportunity for 
 communication between the emergency contact and medical 
 staff caring for an individual in custody;
            (C) ensure emergency contacts are given the 
 meaningful opportunity to visit with a seriously ill or 
 seriously injured individual in custody, with the 
 opportunity for in-person visitation when practicable; 
 and
            (D) provide information about an individual's 
 emergency contact to an outside hospital facility, and 
 allow the hospital to follow its established bylaws 
 concerning communication with next-of-kin or other 
 emergency contacts.

    (7) Autopsy notifications.--Requirements that, in the event 
 an autopsy is performed following a death in custody--
        (A) the next-of-kin or other emergency contact 
 shall be informed not later than 12 hours after any 
 determination that an autopsy shall be performed and 
 given the option to receive the results of the autopsy 
 described in subparagraph
        (B) . Such notification shall 
 include the reason that the autopsy is being performed 
 and the procedures by which the next-of-kin or other 
 emergency contact can obtain the autopsy report; and
        (B) pursuant to subparagraph
        (A) , a copy of the 
 autopsy report and results shall be made available to 
 the next-of-kin or emergency contact upon completion.
            (c) Written Notification Plan.--The policies and procedures 
described in subsection

    (a) shall instruct detention agencies to 
develop a written notification plan, or revise an existing written 
notification plan, that provides for notification of a death, serious 
illness, or serious injury of an individual in custody that conforms 
with the policies described in subsection

    (b) . Such written 
notification plans shall be published on the detention agency's website 
and made accessible to individuals in the agency's custody through 
inclusion in any intake information, manuals, or other materials 
distributed or made available to individuals upon being taken into 
custody.
            (d) Additional Requirements.--

    (1) DOJ support of state and local implementation of model 
 policies.--To support implementation of the model policies and 
 procedures described in subsection

    (a)

    (2) , the Attorney General 
 shall provide ongoing online training and directed outreach to 
 law enforcement, prosecution and defense agencies through 
 national and State membership associations and by other means.

    (2) Publication of emergency contact policies and 
 procedures.--The Attorney General, acting through the Assistant 
 Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs, shall 
 publish the policies and procedures described in subsection

    (b) on its website and shall include a copy of the procedures 
 described subsection

    (b)

    (1) in any intake information, manuals, 
 or other materials distributed or made available to individuals 
 upon being taken into custody of a detention agency of the 
 Department of Justice.

    (3) Intergovernmental service contracts.--Any Department of 
 Justice detention agency, including the U.S. Marshals Service, 
 that contracts with State, municipality, Tribal, private, or 
 other entities to house individuals in custody shall require 
 adoption of the procedures or substantially similar processes 
 as described in subsection

    (b)

    (2) as a condition of such 
 contract or contract renewal as soon as practicable but not 
 later than 7 days of taking the individual into custody.

    (4) Department of justice office of inspector general to 
 monitor compliance with notification and communication 
 requirements.--The Attorney General shall appoint an Ombudsman 
 within the Department of Justice with the authority to receive 
 and investigate complaints regarding the failure to provide the 
 notifications required in the Act, and inadequate 
 notifications, and the failure to provide opportunities for 
 communication and visitation in accordance with this Act.

    (e) Confidentiality.--Information collected under this Act by a 
detention agency, or any agent working on behalf of such detention 
agency, may not be disclosed or used for any purpose except as provided 
in this Act.

    (f) Voluntary Collection.--

    (1) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be 
 construed to require the individual in custody to provide the 
 emergency contact information described in subsection

    (a) .

    (2) No coercion.--The detention agency may not--
        (A) attempt to coerce or persuade the individual in 
 custody to provide the information described in 
 subsection

    (a) ; or
        (B) impose a penalty, fine, or fee on the 
 individual for the individual's failure or refusal to 
 provide the information requested or for providing 
 information that is later determined to be inaccurate.

    (g) Inadmissibility.--No information disclosed or used in violation 
of this Act may be admitted into any State, Federal, or other court as 
evidence or for any other purpose, except in the case of information 
that has been discovered through any independent means.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

 Nothing in this Act may be construed to create any legal or 
financial obligation on the part of any individual designated as a 
next-of-kin or other emergency contact under this Act.
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