47-5-151 - Death of prisoner; investigations, inquests, and autopsies; fees; penalties.
§ 47-5-151. Death of prisoner; investigations, inquests, and autopsies; fees; penalties.
The superintendent (warden) or other person in charge of prisoners, upon the death of any prisoner under his care and control, shall at once notify the county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator (hereinafter "medical examiner") of the county in which said prisoner died, of the death of the prisoner, and it shall be the duty of such medical examiner, when so notified of the death of such person, to obtain a court order and notify the State Medical Examiner of the death of such prisoner. It shall be mandatory that the State Medical Examiner cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of the deceased prisoner. Furthermore, the State Medical Examiner shall investigate any case where a person is found dead on the premises of the correctional system, in accordance with Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79. The State Medical Examiner shall make a written report of his investigation, and shall furnish a copy of the same, including the autopsy report, to the superintendent (warden) and a copy of the same to the district attorney of the county in which said prisoner died. The copy so furnished to the district attorney shall be turned over by the district attorney to the grand jury, and it shall be the duty of the grand jury, if there be any suspicion of wrongdoing shown by the inquest papers, to thoroughly investigate the cause of such death.
It shall be the duty of the medical examiner of the county in which said prisoner died to arrange for the remains to be transported to the State Medical Examiner for said autopsy, and accompanying the remains shall be the court order for autopsy and any documents or records pertaining to the deceased prisoner, institutional health records or other information relating to the circumstances surrounding the prisoner's death. The State Medical Examiner shall arrange for the remains to be transported to the county in which said prisoner died following completion of the autopsy. If the remains are not claimed for burial within forty-eight (48) hours after autopsy, then said remains may be delivered to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for use in medical research or anatomical study.
The provisions herein set forth in the first paragraph shall likewise apply to any case in which any person is found dead on the premises of the Mississippi State Penitentiary except that the autopsy to be performed on the body of such a person shall not be mandatory upon a person who is not a prisoner unless the medical examiner determines that the death resulted from circumstances raising questions as to the cause of death, in which case the medical examiner may cause an autopsy to be performed upon the body of such deceased person in the same manner as authorized to be performed upon the body of a deceased prisoner.
Provided further, that the provisions herein shall apply with respect to any deceased prisoner who at the time of death is being detained by duly constituted state authority such as the Columbia Training School, Oakley Training School, Mississippi State Hospital at Whitfield, East Mississippi State Hospital, or any other state institution.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to a prisoner who was lawfully executed as provided in Sections 99-19-49 through 99-19-55.
Any officer or employee of the prison system or any other officer, employee or person having charge of any prisoner who shall fail to immediately notify the medical examiner of the death of such prisoner, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred dollars ($500.00) and by confinement in the county jail for not more than one (1) year.
Sources: Codes, 1942, § 7948; Laws, 1964, ch. 378, § 28; Laws, 1971, ch. 432, § 1; Laws, 1972, ch. 515, § 1; brought forward, 1981, ch. 465, § 79; Laws, 1983, ch. 391, § 1, ch. 499, § 26; Laws, 1984, ch. 448, § 8; reenacted, 1984, ch. 471, § 70; reenacted, 1986, ch. 413, § 70; Laws, 1986, ch. 459, § 33, eff from and after July 1, 1986.