HBA-MSH, JEK H.B. 1962 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1962 By: Kolkhorst Corrections 4/3/2001 Committee Report (Amended) 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. EXPLANATION OF AMENDMENTS Committee Amendment No. 1 changes the cause of death classification on an executed inmate's death certificate to judicial execution, whereas in the original bill it was legal execution.