HB 323

HLS 26RS-947  ORIGINAL
 2026 Regular Session
 HOUSE BILL NO. 323
 BY REPRESENTATIVE NEWELL
 CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES: Provides relative to notification and reporting procedures
  pertaining to inmate deaths
1AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 40:34.10(introductory paragraph) and to enact Subpart A of Part
3I of Chapter 7 of Title 15 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, to be comprised
4of R.S. 15:716 through 716.4, and R.S. 40:34.10(20), relative to inmates; to provide
5for definitions; to provide relative to reporting and notification procedures for inmate
6deaths; to provide for duties of the Department of Public Safety and Corrections and
7the Louisiana Department of Health; to provide for penalties; to provide for
8exceptions; to provide for the collection of data; to provide for the preparation and
9submission of reports; to provide relative to death certificates; and to provide for
10related matters.
11 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
12Section 1. Subpart A of Part I of Chapter 7 of Title 15 of the Louisiana Revised
13 Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 15:716 through 716.4, is hereby enacted to read as
14 follows:
15SUBPART A. INMATE DEATHS
16§716. Definitions
17As used in this Subpart, the following terms have the following meanings:
18(1) "Correctional facility" means any jail, prison, penitentiary, juvenile
19institution, temporary holding center, or detention facility.
20(2) "Department" means the Department of Public Safety and Corrections.
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1(3) "Immediate family member" means the spouse, parents, children,
2siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, or legal guardian of a deceased inmate.
3(4) "Supervisor" means the warden, facility administrator, or designated
4official at a correctional facility.
5§716.1. Inmate deaths; notification procedures
6A.(1) Each supervisor shall do all of the following upon discovery that the
7death of an inmate has occurred at a correctional facility:
8(a) Immediately notify the department.
9(b) Immediately notify the coroner of the parish where the correctional
10facility is located, thoroughly document any attempts to contact the coroner, and
11provide the coroner with all known circumstances surrounding the death of the
12inmate.
13(c)(i) Promptly notify an immediate family member. Notification shall be
14provided no later than twelve hours after the confirmed time of death and shall never
15be provided between the hours of midnight and 6:00 a.m.
16(ii) Immediately after notification, the supervisor shall share with the
17immediate family member a written letter of condolence that includes the
18circumstances of the death and the available information.
19(d) Investigate the death and make a good faith effort to obtain and include
20all facts relevant to the death within the comprehensive report that is to be submitted
21pursuant to Paragraph (2) of this Subsection.
22(2)(a) A preliminary report for each inmate death shall be issued in
23accordance with the critical incident reporting requirements of the department and
24shall be shared with the immediate family member at no cost.
25(b)(i)   A supervisor shall prepare and make publicly available a
26comprehensive report within thirty days of the death of an inmate. The report shall
27be submitted to both the attorney general and the division of prison operations within
28the department and be made available through a link on the applicable website of the
29department, correctional facility, or sheriff's office.
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1(ii) The report shall include but not be limited to all of the following
2information:
3(aa) The name of the deceased inmate.
4(bb) The age of the deceased inmate.
5(cc) The race of the deceased inmate.
6(dd) The gender of the deceased inmate.
7(ee) The date and time of the inmate's death.
8(ff) The facility and housing area of the inmate at time of death.
9(gg) The preliminary cause of the inmate's death.
10(hh) A brief statement of the circumstances that led to the inmate's death.
11(ii) An identification of which independent agency is investigating the death.
12(jj) Any other facts relevant to the death of the inmate.
13B. No person involved in any act that is connected to the death of an inmate
14shall participate in notifying or contacting an immediate family member.
15C. The department shall immediately appoint an independent investigator or
16investigative entity to examine the circumstances of the death and to pursue any
17necessary charges or administrative action.
18D. The division of prison operations within the department shall do all of the
19following:
20(1) Review any systemic issues that may have contributed to the death of the
21inmate and release a public report with recommendations for preventative measures
22to prevent future deaths.
23(2) Work in coordination with the Louisiana Department of Health to assess
24the quality of medical care provided to any inmate who was receiving medical
25treatment for an issue related to the cause of death.
26E. The provisions of this Section do not apply if the death of an inmate is
27caused by any of the following:
28(1) Natural causes while attended by a physician or a registered nurse.
29(2) A sentence of death imposed pursuant to R.S. 15:569.
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1F. Whoever intentionally fails to comply with the provisions of Subsection
2A of this Section shall be imprisoned for not more than six months, fined not more
3than one thousand dollars, or both.
4§716.2. Inmate deaths; natural causes
5A supervisor or the department shall immediately attempt to notify an
6immediate family member when an inmate dies of natural causes while attended by
7a physician or a registered nurse. Upon successful notification, a supervisor or the
8department shall inform the immediate family member of all of the following:
9(1) That the inmate has died.
10(2) The time of the inmate's death.
11(3) That an autopsy will be conducted on the inmate, unless the immediate
12family member provides an objection to the department within eight hours of the
13stated time of death.
14§716.3. Data collection
15The Louisiana Department of Health shall collect all of the following data for
16an annual analysis of all inmate deaths:
17(1) The cause of death.
18(2) The manner of death.
19(3) The trial status of the inmate.
20(4) The race of the inmate.
21(5) The age of the inmate.
22(6) The gender of the inmate.
23(7) The length of incarceration.
24(8) The type of facility where the inmate was housed.
25§716.4. Reporting
26A. The department and the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association shall jointly
27produce a public report on an annual basis that analyzes and summarizes the
28aggregate data, categorized by facility, of inmate deaths with all of the following
29information:
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1(1) The total number of deaths.
2(2) The race of each deceased inmate.
3(3) The gender of each deceased inmate.
4(4) The age of each deceased inmate
5(5) The criminal record of each deceased inmate.
6(6) The trial status of each deceased inmate.
7(7) The cause of each inmate's death.
8(8) The date of each inmate's death.
9(9) The amount of time each inmate was housed at the facility where the
10death occurred.
11B. Each supervisor shall collect all data on inmate deaths, if applicable to his
12correctional facility, in a timely fashion and through standardized instruments and
13submit this data to the department and the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association for
14inclusion within the annual report.
15C. The department shall publish the annual report on its website and make
16the report available for publishing on the website of each correctional facility no later
17than December thirty-first of each year.
18Section 2. R.S. 40:34.10(introductory paragraph) is hereby amended and reenacted
19 and R.S. 40:34.10(20) is hereby enacted to read as follows:
20§34.10. Death certificate; required contents
21The certificate of death shall contain, as at a minimum, all of the following
22items:
23*       *  *
24(20) Whether the person died while in prison or while serving a sentence, if
25applicable.
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  DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HB 323 Original  2026 Regular Session  Newell
Abstract: Provides relative to notification and reporting procedures pertaining to inmate
  deaths.
Proposed law defines the terms "correctional facility", "department" as the Dept. of Public
Safety and Corrections (DPS&C), "immediate family member", and "supervisor".
Proposed law provides for the mandatory duties of a supervisor upon discovery that the
death of an inmate has occurred at a correctional facility.
Proposed law provides for the issuance of a preliminary report for each inmate death in
accordance with the critical incident reporting requirements of the DPS&C and provides for
the sharing of this report with an immediate family member at no cost.
Proposed law provides for the preparation and availability of a comprehensive report within
30 days of the death of an inmate. Further provides for submission of the report to both the
attorney general and the division of prison operations within the DPS&C as well as
availability through a link on the applicable website of the DPS&C, correctional facility, or
sheriff's office.
Proposed law provides for the information to be included within the comprehensive report.
Proposed law prohibits the inclusion of any person involved in any act that is connected to
the death of an inmate when notifying or contacting an immediate family member.
Proposed law requires the DPS&C to immediately appoint an independent investigator or
investigative entity to examine the circumstances of the death and to pursue any necessary
charges or administrative action.
Proposed law provides for duties of the division of prison operations within the DPS&C.
Proposed law provides for exceptions where reporting and notification pursuant to proposed
law do not apply.
Proposed law provides a penalty of imprisonment for not more than six months or a fine of
$1,000, or both, for anyone who intentionally fails to comply with the provisions of
proposed law.
Proposed law requires that a supervisor or the DPS&C immediately attempt to notify an
immediate family member when an inmate dies of natural causes while attended by a
physician or a registered nurse. Further provides for particular information that is to be
disclosed to the immediate family member.
Proposed law requires the La. Dept. of Health (LDH) to collect certain data for an annual
analysis of all inmate deaths.
Proposed law requires the DPS&C and La. Sheriffs' Assoc. to jointly produce a public report
on an annual basis that analyzes and summarizes the aggregate data, categorized by facility,
of inmate deaths with certain information.
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Proposed law provides for the collection of data on inmate deaths in a timely fashion and
through standardized instruments. Further provides for the publishing of the report no later
than Dec. 31st of each year.
Present law (R.S. 40:34.10) provides for the required items to be contained within a death
certificate.
Proposed law retains present law and adds an item for whether the person died while in
prison or while serving a sentence, if applicable.
(Amends R.S. 40:34.10(intro. para.); Adds R.S. 15:716-716.4 and R.S. 40:34.10(20))
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