PRESS RELEASE: Texas Attorney General upholds TCJS’ authority to appoint independent investigators for in-custody deaths

In response to a request from the Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office dated March 21st, 2025, the Attorney General issued an advisory opinion on Feb 12, 2026 to provide its interpretation of Gov’t Code sec. 511.021(a). That provision states:  “On the death of a prisoner in a county jail, the commission shall appoint a law enforcement agency, other than the local law enforcement agency that operates the county jail, to investigate the death as soon as possible.”

After reviewing the statute, the Attorney General concluded that the Texas Commission on Jail Standards still retains the authority to appoint an independent investigator for all in-custody deaths, regardless of whether they occur inside or outside the walls of a county jail. 

“Our legal interpretation is that the opinion does not in any way impact the validity of the Jail Commission’s current administrative rules and its authority to appoint independent law enforcement agencies to conduct investigations of any and all in-custody deaths. In fact, the opinion clearly states that the Commission’s power is untouched which is essentially what the DA’s original letter was challenging,” said Krish Gundu co-founder and executive director of Texas Jail Project.

In reaching that conclusion, the Attorney General initially adopted an interpretation of section 511.021(a) that appears to place limits on when the Commission is required to appoint an independent law enforcement agency to investigate an in-custody death. Under the Attorney General’s view, the phrase “death of a prisoner in a county jail” covers only those circumstances when someone dies while in the physical premises of the county jail. 

In other words, the Commission is required by law to appoint an independent law enforcement agency to investigate the death of a person who dies inside a county jail facility; but it does not require that the Commission appoint an independent investigator if a person dies outside of the physical walls of the jail (for example, while in a hospital or on work release), even if they are still technically in the jail’s custody. 

However, the Attorney General clarified that while this requirement sets a floor, it does not prevent the Commission from issuing regulations which go above and beyond that floor to require independent investigations into all in-custody deaths. 

Furthermore, the Attorney General’s opinion explicitly notes (1) that those regulations are not affected by his opinion; and (2) that nothing in the history of the Commission’s regulations suggest that it exceeded its authority in requiring that all in-custody deaths be independently investigated. 

Texas Jail Project was one of at least 9 organizations, law clinics, law firms and directly impacted families who submitted third party briefs to the OAG last year. Every single brief argued for in-custody deaths to mean deaths that are defined by prisoner status and not by geography, as was the intent of the lawmaker and bill author Rep. Coleman.

“It’s unfortunate that the AG Opinions Committee chose to ignore those arguments and based their opinion on research instead of a direct conversation with the authors of the Sandra Bland Act. Regardless, Sheriffs who may be interpreting this opinion to mean that no investigations are mandated in the custody deaths that are pronounced at a hospital, should tread cautiously and take note of the Technical Assistance Memo issued today by The Texas Commission on Jail Standards which further clarifies their authority to enforce their broader administrative rule as outlined in 269.1 Record System Death In Custody which requires independent investigation of all in-custody deaths. The duty, authority and responsibility to appoint an independent law enforcement agency to investigate these deaths lies with the Commission and not with Sheriffs.” 

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