Dept. of Corrections; require to convene unexpected fatality review team for certain inmate deaths.

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To: Corrections
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2026

By: Representative Currie

HOUSE BILL NO. 1738

AN ACT TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS TO CONVENE AN 1
UNEXPECTED FATALITY REVIEW TEAM CONCERNING INMATE DEATHS UNDER 2
CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; TO PROVIDE CERTAIN DEFINITIONS; TO PROVIDE 3
THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF AN UNEXPECTED FATALITY REVIEW IS TO DEVELOP 4
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT AND LEGISLATURE REGARDING 5
CHANGES IN PRACTICES TO PREVENT CERTAIN FATALITIES PERTAINING TO 6
INMATES; TO PROVIDE THAT AFTER A REVIEW IS CONDUCTED BY A TEAM, 7
THE DEPARTMENT SHALL ISSUE A REPORT ON THE RESULTS OF A REVIEW; TO 8
REQUIRE ALL UNEXPECTED FATALITY REVIEW REPORTS BE POSTED ON A 9
PUBLIC WEBSITE; TO REQUIRE, UPON THE COMPLETION OF A REVIEW, THE 10
DEPARTMENT TO IMPLEMENT ANY RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE REVIEW 11
TEAM AND TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT TO IMPLEMENT A CORRECTIVE 12
ACTION PLAN; TO AMEND SECTION 25-61-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, 13
TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING SECTION; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 14
25-61-12, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PERTAINS TO CERTAIN 15
EXEMPTIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC RECORDS ACCT OF 1983, FOR 16
PURPOSES OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 17
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 18
SECTION 1. (1) For purposes of this section: 19
(a) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of 20
Corrections. 21
(b) "Jurisdiction of the department" does not include 22
persons on probation, parole or intensive supervision under the 23
supervision of the department. 24
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(c) "Unexpected fatality review" means a review of any 25
death that was not the result of a diagnosed or documented 26
terminal illness or other debilitating or deteriorating illness or 27
condition where the death was anticipated, and includes the death 28
of any person under the jurisdiction of the department, regardless 29
of where the death actually occurred. A review must include an 30
analysis of the root cause or causes of the unexpected fatality, 31
and an associated corrective action plan for the department to 32
address identified root causes and recommendations made by the 33
unexpected fatality review team under this section. 34
(2) (a) The department shall conduct an unexpected fatality 35
review in any case in which the death of an incarcerated 36
individual is unexpected. 37
(b) The department shall convene an unexpected fatality 38
review team and determine the membership of the review team. The 39
team shall comprise of individuals with appropriate expertise 40
including, but not limited to, individuals whose professional 41
expertise is pertinent to the dynamics of a case. The unexpected 42
fatality review team shall include the chairman of the House 43
Public Health and Services Committee, the Chairman of the Public 44
Health and Welfare Committee, the Chairpersons of the House and 45
Senate Corrections Committees and a representative from the 46
Mississippi Department of Health. The department shall ensure 47
that the unexpected fatality review team is made up of individuals 48
who had no previous involvement in the case. 49
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(c) The primary purpose of the unexpected fatality 50
review shall be the development of recommendations to the 51
department and legislature regarding changes in practices or 52
policies to prevent fatalities and strengthen safety and health 53
protections for prisoners in the custody of the department. 54
(d) Upon conclusion of an unexpected fatality review 55
required pursuant to this section, the department shall, within 56
120 days following the fatality, issue a report on the results of 57
the review, unless an extension has been granted by the Governor. 58
Reports must be distributed to the House and Senate Corrections 59
Chairpersons of the Legislature, Speaker of the House of 60
Representatives, Lieutenant Governor and Governor, and the 61
department shall create a public website where all unexpected 62
fatality review reports required under this section must be posted 63
and maintained. An unexpected fatality review report completed 64
pursuant to this section is subject to public disclosure and must 65
be posted on the public website, except that confidential 66
information may be redacted by the department consistent with the 67
requirements of applicable state and federal laws. 68
(e) Within ten (10) days of completion of an unexpected 69
fatality review under this section, the department shall develop 70
an associated corrective action plan to implement any 71
recommendations made by the review team in the unexpected fatality 72
review report. Corrective action plans shall be implemented 73
within 120 days, unless an extension has been granted by the 74
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governor. Corrective action plans are subject to public 75
disclosure, and must be posted on the department's website in 76
accordance with (d) of this subsection, except that confidential 77
information may be redacted by the department consistent with the 78
requirements of applicable state and federal laws. 79
(f) The department shall develop and implement 80
procedures to carry out the requirements of this section. 81
(3) In any review of an unexpected fatality, the department 82
and the unexpected fatality review team shall have access to all 83
records and files regarding the person or otherwise relevant to 84
the review that have been produced or retained by an agency who 85
has provided care, supervision or services to the deceased 86
inmate. 87
(4) (a) An unexpected fatality review completed pursuant to 88
this section is subject to discovery in a civil or administrative 89
proceeding, but may not be admitted into evidence or otherwise 90
used in a civil or administrative proceeding except pursuant to 91
this section. 92
(b) A department employee responsible for conducting an 93
unexpected fatality review, or member of an unexpected fatality 94
review team, may not be examined in a civil or administrative 95
proceeding regarding: (i) The work of the unexpected fatality 96
review team; (ii) the incident under review; (iii) his or her 97
statements, deliberations, thoughts, analyses, or impressions 98
relating to the work of the unexpected fatality review team or the 99
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incident under review; or (iv) the statements, deliberations, 100
thoughts, analyses, or impressions of any other member of the 101
unexpected fatality review team, or any person who provided 102
information to the unexpected fatality review team relating to the 103
work of the unexpected fatality review team or the incident under 104
review. 105
(c) Documents prepared by or for an unexpected fatality 106
review team are inadmissible and may not be used in a civil or 107
administrative proceeding, except that any document that exists 108
before its use or consideration in an unexpected fatality review, 109
or that is created independently of such review, does not become 110
inadmissible merely because it is reviewed or used by an 111
unexpected fatality review team. A person is not unavailable as a 112
witness merely because the person has been interviewed by, or has 113
provided a statement for, an unexpected fatality review, but if 114
the person is called as a witness, the person may not be examined 115
regarding the person's interactions with the unexpected fatality 116
review including, without limitation, whether the person was 117
interviewed during such review, the questions that were asked 118
during such review, and the answers that the person provided 119
during such review. This section may not be construed as 120
restricting the person from testifying fully in any proceeding 121
regarding his or her knowledge of the incident under review. 122
(d) The restrictions set forth in this section do not 123
apply in a licensing or disciplinary proceeding arising from an 124
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agency's effort to revoke or suspend the license of any licensed 125
professional based in whole or in part upon allegations of 126
wrongdoing in connection with an unexpected fatality reviewed by 127
an unexpected fatality review team. 128
SECTION 2. Section 25-61-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 129
amended as follows: 130
25-61-5. (1) (a) Except as otherwise provided by Sections 131
25-61-9, 25-61-11, 25-61-11.2, * * * 37-153-7 and Section 1 of 132
this act, all public records are hereby declared to be public 133
property, and any person shall have the right to inspect, copy or 134
mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of any public 135
record of a public body in accordance with reasonable written 136
procedures adopted by the public body concerning the cost, time, 137
place and method of access, and public notice of the procedures 138
shall be given by the public body, or, if a public body has not 139
adopted written procedures, the right to inspect, copy or 140
mechanically reproduce or obtain a reproduction of a public record 141
of the public body shall be provided within one (1) working day 142
after a written request for a public record is made. No public 143
body shall adopt procedures which will authorize the public body 144
to produce or deny production of a public record later than seven 145
(7) working days from the date of the receipt of the request for 146
the production of the record. 147
(b) If a public body is unable to produce a public 148
record by the seventh working day after the request is made, the 149
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public body must provide a written explanation to the person 150
making the request stating that the record requested will be 151
produced and specifying with particularity why the records cannot 152
be produced within the seven-day period. Unless there is mutual 153
agreement of the parties, in no event shall the date for the 154
public body's production of the requested records be any later 155
than fourteen (14) working days from the receipt by the public 156
body of the original request. 157
(2) If any public record contains material which is not 158
exempted under this chapter, the public agency shall redact the 159
exempted material and make the nonexempted material available for 160
examination. Such public agency shall be entitled to charge a 161
reasonable fee for the redaction of any exempted material, not to 162
exceed the agency's actual cost. 163
(3) Denial by a public body of a request for access to or 164
copies of public records under this chapter shall be in writing 165
and shall contain a statement of the specific exemption relied 166
upon by the public body for the denial. Each public body shall 167
maintain a file of all denials of requests for public records. 168
Public bodies shall be required to preserve such denials on file 169
for not less than three (3) years from the date such denials are 170
made. This file shall be made available for inspection or 171
copying, or both, during regular office hours to any person upon 172
written request. 173
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(4) Where any public body is preparing or conducting a 174
competitive procurement, the time limitations contained in this 175
section shall be tolled until the public body determines it will 176
not issue the procurement, cancels the procurement or issues a 177
notice naming its intended awardee. 178
(5) This section shall stand repealed on July 1, 2028. 179
SECTION 3. Section 25-61-12, Mississippi Code of 1972, is 180
brought forward as follows: 181
25-61-12. (1) The home address, any telephone number of a 182
privately paid account or other private information of any law 183
enforcement officer, criminal investigator, judge or district 184
attorney, or the spouse or child of the law enforcement officer, 185
criminal investigator, judge or district attorney, shall be exempt 186
from the Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983. This exemption 187
does not apply to any court transcript or recording if given under 188
oath and not otherwise excluded by law. 189
(2) (a) When in the possession of a law enforcement agency, 190
investigative reports shall be exempt from the provisions of this 191
chapter; however, a law enforcement agency, in its discretion, may 192
choose to make public all or any part of any investigative report. 193
(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 194
prevent any and all public bodies from having among themselves a 195
free flow of information for the purpose of achieving a 196
coordinated and effective detection and investigation of unlawful 197
activity. Where the confidentiality of records covered by this 198
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section is being determined in a private hearing before a judge 199
under Section 25-61-13, the public body may redact or separate 200
from the records the identity of confidential informants or the 201
identity of the person or persons under investigation or other 202
information other than the nature of the incident, time, date and 203
location. 204
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 205
exempt from public disclosure a law enforcement incident report. 206
An incident report shall be a public record. A law enforcement 207
agency may release information in addition to the information 208
contained in the incident report. 209
(d) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to 210
require the disclosure of information that would reveal the 211
identity of the victim. 212
(3) Personal information of victims, including victim impact 213
statements and letters of support on behalf of victims that are 214
contained in records on file with the Mississippi Department of 215
Corrections and State Parole Board, shall be exempt from the 216
provisions of this chapter. 217
(4) Records of a public hospital board relating to the 218
purchase or sale of medical or other practices or other business 219
operations, and the recruitment of physicians and other health 220
care professionals, shall be exempt from the provisions of this 221
chapter. 222
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ST: Dept. of Corrections; require to convene
unexpected fatality review team for certain
inmate deaths.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from 223
and after its passage. 224