I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6296 

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 

DECEMBER 16, 2021 

Ms. BASS (for herself, Ms. MACE, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. BACON, Mr. TRONE, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, 

Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. LIEU, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. JONES, Mr. RUSH, and Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD) 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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Notification 

3 of Death, Injury, or Illness in Custody Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) In the event an individual dies or becomes 

7 seriously ill or injured while being detained, ar8 rested, or while in law enforcement custody, their 

9 family members deserve to be notified in a timely 

10 and compassionate manner. Such notification is nec11 essary to uphold the basic human dignity of incar12 cerated people, a concept rooted in the Eighteenth 

13 Amendment and Due Process Clause of the Four14 teenth Amendment. 

15 (2) The lack of a national standard governing 

16 notification of death, illness, and injury that occur 

17 in prisons, jails and police custody can lead to inhu18 mane treatment of incarcerated people and their 

19 loved ones. Poor communication regarding the death 

20 of a loved one may exacerbate the grief and other 

21 physical and psychological reactions of surviving rel22 atives. 

23 (3) On Easter Sunday of 2016, Wakiesha Wil24 son was found dead in her cell in the Los Angeles 

25 Police Department’s Metropolitan Detention Center. 

26 Her mother called the police to determine Ms. WilVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6296.IH H6296

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1 son’s whereabouts but was not initially given any in2 formation. It was not until March 30, 3 days later, 

3 when Ms. Wilson’s mother was told to call the cor4 oner that she learned her daughter had died. 

5 (4) In Georgia, Jennifer Bradley testified before 

6 the General Assembly in September 2021 that she is 

7 still waiting for answers about the stabbing death of 

8 her 23-year-old son at Macon State Prison in March 

9 2020. She told the committee that it was an incar10 cerated person, not a prison official, who first noti11 fied her of her son’s death. As of the hearing, she 

12 had not yet received his belongings. 

13 (5) Jordan Fisher found out about the death of 

14 her father, Thomas Willis, at Valdosta State Prison 

15 in Georgia when a letter she had sent her father was 

16 returned back to her stamped: ‘‘Return to sender: 

17 inmate dead’’. She was unable to obtain further in18 formation about her father’s death from prison offi19 cials. What information she uncovered came from 

20 letters from her father’s cellmate. 

21 (6) Sara Roth did not receive notice from the 

22 Clayton County Jail in Georgia that her mother, Re23 gina Salman, had fallen and suffered serious inju24 ries, including a collapsed lung that required hos25 pitalization. When her mother’s longtime boyfriend 


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1 went to visit the jail, he was told Ms. Salman was 

2 no longer there but was not provided additional in3 formation. More than a month later, the hospital 

4 called Ms. Roth and informed her that her mother 

5 was on a ventilator and dying of a severe brain 

6 tumor. Her mother was taken off the ventilator 3 

7 days later without ever regaining consciousness. 

8 (7) The failure to release autopsy results can 

9 prevent families and loved ones from seeking justice 

10 for wrongful deaths. After Harvey Hill was arrested 

11 for trespassing and booked into jail in Canton, Mis12 sissippi, guards beat him severely and kicked him re13 peatedly in the head. Mr. Hill died in an isolation 

14 cell. The State medical examiner’s report recorded 

15 his death as a homicide, but it was not released until 

16 25 months after his death and 13 months after the 

17 statute of limitations expired for assault. 

18 (8) In recent years, deaths in custody have 

19 reached the highest levels on record. In 2018, two 

20 years prior to the rapid spread of COVID–19 behind 

21 bars, at least 1,120 people died while detained in 

22 local jails and 4,513 people died in the custody of 

23 State and Federal prisons. This represented an all24 time high in the number of deaths in both local jails 


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1 and State prisons since the Bureau of Justice Sta2 tistics (BJS) started collecting mortality data. 

3 (9) The spread of COVID–19 behind bars sig4 nificantly increased the death toll of people in cus5 tody. At least 2,700 people are estimated to have 

6 died of COVID–19 in prisons, jails and detention 

7 centers, and the COVID–19 death rate in State and 

8 Federal prisons between April 2020 and April 2021 

9 was more than double that of the general population. 

10 This is likely a significant undercount, given uneven 

11 and inconsistent reporting. In some instances, people 

12 are released from local jails to die in hospitals, 

13 whether of COVID–19 or other causes, and their 

14 deaths are not recorded as a death in custody. 

15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) CUSTODIAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘custodial 

18 record’’ means the central file of an individual in 

19 custody. 

20 (2) DETENTION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘detention 

21 agency’’ means any government agency, including a 

22 law enforcement agency or correctional agency, that 

23 has the authority to detain people for violations or 

24 alleged violations of criminal or civil law. 


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1 (3) IN CUSTODY OF A DETENTION AGENCY.— 

2 The term ‘‘in the custody of a detention agency’’ in3 cludes, but is not limited to, a person who is de4 tained, under arrest, or is in the process of being ar5 rested, is en route to be incarcerated, or is incarcer6 ated at a jail, prison, boot camp prison, contract cor7 rectional facility, community correctional facility, or 

8 other correctional facility (including any juvenile de9 tention facility). 

10 (4) TAKING CUSTODY.—The term ‘‘taking cus11 tody’’ means the point at which the detention agency 

12 takes custody or control of an individual, including 

13 during or prior to booking or intake screening as a 

14 new commitment, in transfer from another institu15 tion, as a court return, as a return from a writ, or 

16 as a holdover. 

17 SEC. 4. EMERGENCY CONTACT NOTIFICATION POLICIES 

18 AND PROCEDURES. 

19 (a) EMERGENCY CONTACT NOTIFICATION POLICIES

20 AND PROCEDURES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, con22 sistent with the requirements in this section— 

23 (1) implement policies and procedures for the 

24 detention agencies of the Department of Justice to 

25 notify the next-of-kin or other emergency contact in 


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1 the event of the death, or serious illness or serious 

2 injury, of an individual in the custody of a detention 

3 agency of the Department of Justice; and 

4 (2) develop and distribute model policies and 

5 procedures for detention agencies of States, terri6 tories of the United States, Tribes, and units of 

7 local government to notify the next-of-kin or other 

8 emergency contact in the event of the death, or seri9 ous illness or serious injury, of an individual in the 

10 custody of that detention agency, and provide assist11 ance to such detention agencies so that the agencies 

12 may implement such procedures or substantially 

13 similar processes. 

14 (b) CONTENTS OF EMERGENCY CONTACT NOTIFICA15 TION POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.— 

16 (1) EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION.—The 

17 policies and procedures described in subsection (a) 

18 shall address the collection and use of emergency 

19 contact information for individuals in custody, in20 cluding the following: 

21 (A) EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

22 REQUESTED UPON TAKING CUSTODY.—In the 

23 case of an individual taken into the custody of 

24 a detention agency, the agency shall, at the 

25 time of taking custody, ask the individual— 


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1 (i) for the name, last known address, 

2 telephone number, and email of any person 

3 or persons who shall be notified in the 

4 event of the individual in custody’s death 

5 or serious illness or serious injury, and 

6 who are authorized to receive the individ7 ual’s body; 

8 (ii) the order in which the individual 

9 in custody prefers the emergency contacts 

10 described in clause (i) to be notified; 

11 (iii) whether the individual in custody 

12 would like a faith leader to participate in 

13 such notification process and, if so, of 

14 what denomination; and 

15 (iv) whether the individual has in 

16 place a medical proxy decision maker or 

17 medical power of attorney, advanced direc18 tive, or do not resuscitate order. 

19 (B) EMERGENCY CONTACT LIST MODIFICA20 TION.—The detention agency shall permit an 

21 individual in custody to modify their emergency 

22 contact information at any time and provide a 

23 periodic opportunity, but not less than annually, 

24 for individuals in custody to update their emer25 gency contact information and to fill out a medVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Dec 23, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6296.IH H6296

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1 ical power of attorney, health care proxy, ad2 vanced directive, a do not resuscitate order, or 

3 any other similar document that complies with 

4 the State law in the location of detention. 

5 (C) DISCLOSURE OF PURPOSE AND PER6 MISSIBLE USES OF EMERGENCY CONTACT IN7 FORMATION.—The detention agency shall pro8 vide the individual in custody information about 

9 the purpose and permissible uses of the emer10 gency contact information provided pursuant to 

11 this section. 

12 (D) STANDARDIZED EMERGENCY CONTACT

13 FORM.—The policies and procedures described 

14 in subsection (a) shall include a template form 

15 for recording the individual in custody’s next-of16 kin or other emergency contact and other infor17 mation under subsection (b)(1)(A). 

18 (E) CUSTODIAL RECORD.—The detention 

19 agency shall record the individual’s next-of-kin 

20 or other emergency contact information on the 

21 form described in subparagraph (D) and in22 clude that form in the individual’s custodial 

23 record. 

24 (2) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEATH, 

25 SERIOUS ILLNESS, AND SERIOUS INJURY WHILE IN


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1 CUSTODY.—The policies and procedures described in 

2 subsection (a) shall describe the notification require3 ments in the event an individual dies, is seriously in4 jured or becomes seriously ill while in the custody of 

5 a detention agency, including the following: 

6 (A) NOTIFICATION TIMEFRAME.— 

7 (i) NOTIFICATION OF DEATH.—In the 

8 event an individual dies while in the cus9 tody of the detention agency, the detention 

10 agency shall notify the individual’s emer11 gency contact not later than 12 hours after 

12 the declaration of death and between the 

13 hours of 6:00 a.m. and to midnight local 

14 time. 

15 (ii) NOTIFICATION OF SERIOUS ILL16 NESS OR SERIOUS INJURY.—Notice to the 

17 next-of-kin or other emergency contact 

18 shall be made as soon as practicable after 

19 the serious injury or serious illness occurs, 

20 but in any event not later than 48 hours 

21 from such determination and between the 

22 hours of 6:00 a.m. and to midnight local 

23 time. The notification should occur prior to 

24 any required medical procedure, where 

25 practical and if such timeframe will not 


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1 delay treatment, but in any event, not later 

2 than any medical discharge or clearance. 

3 (B) DEATH NOTIFICATION INFORMATION

4 REQUIRED.— 

5 (i) IN GENERAL.—Such notification 

6 shall include all pertinent circumstances 

7 surrounding the death, including— 

8 (I) the official time of death; 

9 (II) the cause of death (if deter10 mined); and 

11 (III) whether the individual’s 

12 death is under investigation and the 

13 reason for opening an investigation. 

14 (ii) NO CAUSE OF DEATH DETER15 MINED.—If the cause of death has not 

16 been determined at the time of the notifi17 cation, the detention agency shall follow up 

18 with the individual’s emergency contact 

19 once such a determination has been made 

20 to provide that information within 24 

21 hours of such determination. 

22 (C) SERIOUS ILLNESS OR SERIOUS INJURY

23 NOTIFICATION INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Such 

24 notification shall include pertinent details of the 

25 serious injury or serious illness, including— 


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1 (i) the cause and nature of the serious 

2 injury or serious illness event; 

3 (ii) whether the individual is incapaci4 tated, unconscious, or unable to speak; 

5 (iii) whether any medical procedures 

6 or lifesaving measures were, or will be, per7 formed in response to the incident; and 

8 (iv) contact information of the facility 

9 and provider that is providing medical 

10 treatment. 

11 (D) DEFINITION OF SERIOUS ILLNESS OR

12 SERIOUS INJURY.—The policies and procedures 

13 described in subsection (a) shall define when a 

14 medical event, episode, condition, accident, or 

15 other incident constitutes a serious illness or se16 rious injury. In defining such term, the Attor17 ney General shall require notification in at least 

18 in cases in which— 

19 (i) without immediate treatment for 

20 the condition, death is imminent; 

21 (ii) admission to a hospital is re22 quired; 

23 (iii) an individual is unconscious or in24 capacitated such that they are incapable of 


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1 providing consent for medical treatment; 

2 and 

3 (iv) an individual has been diagnosed 

4 with a terminal illness. 

5 (E) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED

6 TO NOTIFICATION.—The policies and proce7 dures described in subsection (a) shall include 

8 the following: 

9 (i) COMPASSIONATE AND PROFES10 SIONAL NOTIFICATION.—Standards for 

11 providing notification in a compassionate 

12 and professional manger to minimize con13 fusion and trauma suffered by the next-of14 kin or other emergency contact, includ15 ing— 

16 (I) a description of what informa17 tion cannot be included in a voicemail, 

18 such as notification of death or seri19 ous illness; 

20 (II) an offer for an in-person or 

21 virtual face-to-face meeting in the 

22 event a notification of a death in cus23 tody is provided to the emergency con24 tact during a live conversation over 

25 the phone; and 


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1 (III) a requirement that notifica2 tions are provided in a private setting 

3 and, when practicable, in person and 

4 by a mental health professional, des5 ignated case worker, or chaplain 

6 trained in notification best practices. 

7 (3) NOTIFICATION OPT OUT.—Standards to en8 sure that notifications should not occur where the 

9 individual is advised of their right to notification and 

10 instructs the agency not to do so, or where they re11 quest the opportunity to provide such notification 

12 personally, in which case the detention agency shall 

13 provide an opportunity for the individual to deliver 

14 such notification within the time period identified 

15 above. 

16 (4) BELONGINGS AND REMAINS.—Standards 

17 for handling the belongings and remains of an indi18 vidual who died in custody, including— 

19 (A) returning the individual’s belongings 

20 and remains, if desired, to the next-of-kin or 

21 other emergency contact and providing at least 

22 7 days for the emergency contact to make a de23 cision as to the disposition of the belongings 

24 and remains; 


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1 (B) following up with the individual’s next2 of-kin or other emergency contact in the event 

3 of a death in custody with the outcome of any 

4 critical incident review or other internal inves5 tigations not available at the time of the initial 

6 notification; and 

7 (C) documenting and maintaining within 

8 the individual’s custodial record any incident of 

9 unclaimed or a rejected claim for the body or 

10 property of the deceased, including a detailed 

11 description of where any unclaimed body and 

12 property have been disposed. 

13 (5) DOCUMENTATION OF ATTEMPTS.—Require14 ments that each notification attempt shall be docu15 mented and maintained within the custodial record, 

16 including— 

17 (A) the staff name and corresponding 

18 agency or department contact information for 

19 each individual responsible for carrying out the 

20 notification; 

21 (B) the date and time of each successful 

22 and unsuccessful contact; and 

23 (C) the name and contact information to 

24 which each attempt was made, and any reason 

25 for failed or unsuccessful contact. 


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1 (6) ADDITIONAL PROCEDURES IN THE EVENT

2 OF SERIOUS ILLNESS OR INJURY.—Standards to en3 sure that detention agencies— 

4 (A) implement medical proxy decision 

5 maker or medical power of attorney, advanced 

6 directive, or ‘‘do not resuscitate’’ orders; 

7 (B) provide meaningful opportunity for 

8 communication between the emergency contact 

9 and medical staff caring for an individual in 

10 custody; 

11 (C) ensure emergency contacts are given 

12 the meaningful opportunity to visit with a seri13 ously ill or seriously injured individual in cus14 tody, with the opportunity for in-person visita15 tion when practicable; and 

16 (D) provide information about an individ17 ual’s emergency contact at to an outside hos18 pital facility, and allow the hospital to follow its 

19 established bylaws concerning communication 

20 with next-of-kin or other emergency contacts. 

21 (7) AUTOPSY NOTIFICATIONS.—Requirements 

22 that, in the event an autopsy is performed following 

23 a death in custody— 

24 (A) the next-of-kin or other emergency 

25 contact shall be informed not later than 12 


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1 hours after any determination that an autopsy 

2 shall be performed and given the option to re3 ceive the results of the autopsy described in 

4 subparagraph (B). Such notification shall in5 clude the reason that the autopsy is being per6 formed and the procedures by which the next7 of-kin or other emergency contact can obtain 

8 the autopsy report; and 

9 (B) pursuant to subparagraph (A), a copy 

10 of the autopsy report and results shall be made 

11 available to the next-of-kin or emergency con12 tact upon completion. 

13 (c) WRITTEN NOTIFICATION PLAN.—The policies 

14 and procedures described in subsection (a) shall instruct 

15 detention agencies to develop a written notification plan, 

16 or revise an existing written notification plan, that pro17 vides for notification of a death, serious illness, or serious 

18 injury of an individual in custody that conforms with the 

19 policies described in subsection (b). Such written notifica20 tion plans shall be published on the detention agency’s 

21 website and made accessible to individuals in the agency’s 

22 custody through inclusion in any intake information, 

23 manuals, or other materials distributed or made available 

24 to individuals upon being taken into custody. 

25 (d) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 


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1 (1) DOJ SUPPORT OF STATE AND LOCAL IM2 PLEMENTATION OF MODEL POLICIES.—To support 

3 implementation of the model policies and procedures 

4 described in subsection (a)(2), the Attorney General 

5 shall provide ongoing online training and directed 

6 outreach to law enforcement, prosecution and de7 fense agencies through national and State member8 ship associations and by other means. 

9 (2) PUBLICATION OF EMERGENCY CONTACT

10 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Attorney Gen11 eral, acting through the Assistant Attorney General 

12 of the Office of Justice Programs, shall publish the 

13 policies and procedures described in subsection (b) 

14 on its website and shall include a copy of the proce15 dures described subsection (b)(1) in any intake in16 formation, manuals, or other materials distributed 

17 or made available to individuals upon being taken 

18 into custody of a detention agency of the Depart19 ment of Justice. 

20 (3) INTERGOVERNMENTAL SERVICE CON21 TRACTS.—Any Department of Justice detention 

22 agency, including the U.S. Marshals Service, that 

23 contracts with State, municipality, Tribal, private, or 

24 other entities to house individuals in custody shall 

25 require adoption of the procedures or substantially 


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1 similar processes as described in subsection (b)(2) as 

2 a condition of such contract or contract renewal as 

3 soon as practicable but not later than 7 days of tak4 ing the individual into custody. 

5 (4) DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF IN6 SPECTOR GENERAL TO MONITOR COMPLIANCE WITH

7 NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATION REQUIRE8 MENTS.—The Attorney General shall appoint an 

9 Ombudsman within the Department of Justice with 

10 the authority to receive and investigate complaints 

11 regarding the failure to provide the notifications re12 quired in the Act, and inadequate notifications, and 

13 the failure to provide opportunities for communica14 tion and visitation in accordance with this Act. 

15 (e) CONFIDENTIALITY.—Information collected under 

16 this Act by a detention agency, or any agent working on 

17 behalf of such detention agency, may not be disclosed or 

18 used for any purpose except as provided in this Act. 

19 (f) VOLUNTARY COLLECTION.— 

20 (1) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

21 Act shall be construed to require the individual in 

22 custody to provide the emergency contact informa23 tion described in subsection (a). 

24 (2) NO COERCION.—The detention agency may 

25 not— 


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1 (A) attempt to coerce or persuade the indi2 vidual in custody to provide the information de3 scribed in subsection (a); or 

4 (B) impose a penalty, fine, or fee on the 

5 individual for the individual’s failure or refusal 

6 to provide the information requested or for pro7 viding information that is later determined to 

8 be inaccurate. 

9 (g) INADMISSIBILITY.—No information disclosed or 

10 used in violation of this Act may be admitted into any 

11 State, Federal, or other court as evidence or for any other 

12 purpose, except in the case of information that has been 

13 discovered through any independent means. 

14 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

15 Nothing in this Act may be construed to create any 

16 legal or financial obligation on the part of any individual 

17 designated as a next-of-kin or other emergency contact 

18 under this Act. 

Æ 


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