[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-ki