II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 1322
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
APRIL8, 2025
Mr. O
SSOFF(for himself and Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and 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 imple-
ment and enforce similar policies and procedures, and
for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Family Notification 4
of Death, Injury, or Illness in Custody Act of 2025’’. 5
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2
•S 1322 IS
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
Congress finds the following: 2
(1) In the event an individual dies or becomes 3
seriously ill or injured while being detained, ar-4
rested, or while in law enforcement custody, their 5
family members deserve to be notified in a timely 6
and compassionate manner. Such notification is nec-7
essary to uphold the basic human dignity of incar-8
cerated people, a concept rooted in the Eighth 9
Amendment and Due Process Clause of the 14th 10
Amendment to the Constitution of the United 11
States. 12
(2) The lack of a national standard governing 13
notification of death, illness, and injury that occur 14
in prisons, jails, and police custody can lead to inhu-15
mane treatment of incarcerated people and their 16
loved ones. Poor communication regarding the death 17
of a loved one may exacerbate the grief and other 18
physical and psychological reactions of surviving rel-19
atives. 20
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 21
In this Act: 22
(1) C
USTODIAL RECORD.—The term ‘‘custodial 23
record’’ means the central file of an individual in 24
custody. 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3
•S 1322 IS
(2) DETENTION AGENCY.—The term ‘‘detention 1
agency’’ means any government agency, including a 2
law enforcement agency or correctional agency, that 3
has the authority to detain individuals for violations 4
or alleged violations of criminal or civil law. 5
(3) I
N CUSTODY OF A DETENTION AGENCY .— 6
The term ‘‘in the custody of a detention agency’’ 7
means an individual who, after being detained and 8
booked into a jail or holding facility for a Federal, 9
State, or local offense— 10
(A) is physically housed at a jail, prison, 11
boot camp prison, contract correctional facility, 12
community correctional facility, halfway house, 13
or other correctional facility (including any ju-14
venile detention facility); or 15
(B) has been or is being transferred to a 16
medical facility from a correctional facility. 17
SEC. 4. EMERGENCY CONTACT NOTIFICATION POLICIES 18
AND PROCEDURES. 19
(a) E
MERGENCYCONTACTNOTIFICATIONPOLICIES 20
ANDPROCEDURES.—Not later than 1 year after the date 21
of enactment of this Act, the Attorney General shall, con-22
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
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 4
•S 1322 IS
notify the next of kin or other emergency contact in 1
the event of the death, or serious illness or serious 2
injury, of an individual in the custody of a detention 3
agency of the Department of Justice; and 4
(2) develop and distribute model policies and 5
procedures for detention agencies of States, terri-6
tories of the United States, Tribes, and units of 7
local government to notify the next of kin or other 8
emergency contact in the event of the death, or seri-9
ous illness or serious injury, of an individual in the 10
custody of the detention agency, and provide assist-11
ance to such detention agencies so that the agencies 12
may implement such procedures or substantially 13
similar processes. 14
(b) C
ONTENTS OFEMERGENCYCONTACTNOTIFICA-15
TIONPOLICIES ANDPROCEDURES.—The policies and pro-16
cedures described in subsection (a) shall include best prac-17
tices that address the following: 18
(1) E
MERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION .—In 19
the case of an individual that is in the custody of 20
a detention agency, the detention agency shall ob-21
tain, to the greatest extent practicable— 22
(A) the name, last known address, tele-23
phone number, and email of any individual or 24
individuals who— 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5
•S 1322 IS
(i) shall be notified in the event of the 1
death or serious illness or serious injury, of 2
the individual in custody; and 3
(ii) are authorized to receive the body 4
and personal effects of the individual in 5
custody; 6
(B) whether the individual in custody 7
would like a faith leader to participate in the 8
notification process and, if so, of what denomi-9
nation; and 10
(C) whether the individual has in place a 11
medical proxy decision maker or medical power 12
of attorney, advanced directive, or do not resus-13
citate order, and the name and contact informa-14
tion of the individual or individuals holding 15
such authorities. 16
(2) N
OTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR DEATH , 17
SERIOUS ILLNESS, AND SERIOUS INJURY WHILE IN 18
CUSTODY.— 19
(A) N
OTIFICATION OF DEATH IN CUS -20
TODY.—In the event an individual dies while in 21
the custody of the detention agency, the deten-22
tion agency shall notify the emergency contact 23
of the individual not later than 12 hours after 24
the declaration of death and between the hours 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 6
•S 1322 IS
of 6:00 a.m. and to midnight local time. Such 1
notification shall include information about the 2
circumstances surrounding the death, including 3
the official time of death, the cause of death, 4
and whether the death is under investigation, 5
including the reason for opening the investiga-6
tion. 7
(B) N
OTIFICATION OF SERIOUS ILLNESS 8
OR SERIOUS INJURY .—In the event an indi-9
vidual becomes seriously ill or seriously injured 10
while in the custody of a detention agency, the 11
detention agency shall attempt to notify the 12
emergency contact of the individual as soon as 13
practicable after the serious injury or serious 14
illness occurs. Such notification shall include in-15
formation about the serious illness or injury, in-16
cluding the cause and nature of the serious in-17
jury or serious illness event, whether the indi-18
vidual is incapacitated, unconscious, or unable 19
to speak, whether any medical procedures or 20
life-saving measures were, or will be, performed 21
in response to the incident, and the contact in-22
formation of the facility and provider of medical 23
treatment. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 7
•S 1322 IS
(3) COMPASSIONATE AND PROFESSIONAL NOTI -1
FICATION.—The policies and procedures described in 2
subsection (a) shall include best practices to provide 3
notification of death, serious illness, or serious in-4
jury in custody in a compassionate and professional 5
manner to minimize confusion and trauma suffered 6
by the next of kin or other emergency contact. The 7
best practices shall address the manner of notifica-8
tion, including— 9
(A) providing notification by an individual 10
trained in notification best practices; 11
(B) if notification occurs in person, pro-12
viding the next of kin or other emergency con-13
tact a point of contact at the detention facility; 14
and 15
(C) providing notification of a death in 16
custody via a telephone or in-person conversa-17
tion, immediately followed by a written letter of 18
condolence that advises the person of the cir-19
cumstances of the death, and providing a de-20
scription of what information can and cannot be 21
provided over voicemail. 22
(4) D
EFINITION OF SERIOUS ILLNESS OR SERI -23
OUS INJURY.—The policies and procedures described 24
in subsection (a) shall define when a medical event, 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 8
•S 1322 IS
episode, condition, accident, or other incident con-1
stitutes a serious illness or serious injury. In defin-2
ing such term, the Attorney General shall require 3
notification in at least situations where— 4
(A) without immediate treatment for the 5
condition, death is imminent; 6
(B) admission to a hospital is required; 7
(C) an individual attempted suicide; 8
(D) an individual is unconscious or inca-9
pacitated such that they are incapable of pro-10
viding consent for medical treatment; and 11
(E) an individual has been diagnosed with 12
a terminal illness. 13
(5) E
MERGENCY CONTACT FORM .—The policies 14
and procedures described in subsection (a) shall in-15
clude a template form for detention agencies to 16
record the emergency contact information for inclu-17
sion in the custodial record of the individual. 18
(6) A
DDITIONAL BEST PRACTICES .—The poli-19
cies and practices described in subsection (a) shall 20
include best practices to— 21
(A) permit individuals in custody to modify 22
their emergency contact information as needed; 23
(B) provide individuals in custody the op-24
portunity to fill out a medical power of attor-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 9
•S 1322 IS
ney, health care proxy, advanced directive, a do 1
not resuscitate order, or any other similar docu-2
ment that complies with the State law in the lo-3
cation of detention; 4
(C) return the belongings and remains of 5
the individual to the emergency contact, if de-6
sired; 7
(D) document and maintain within the 8
custodial record of the individual each notifica-9
tion attempt performed pursuant to this Act by 10
the detention agency; 11
(E) provide the emergency contact mean-12
ingful opportunity to visit with a seriously ill or 13
seriously injured individual in custody and to 14
communicate with the medical staff caring for 15
that individual; 16
(F) provide the individual in custody infor-17
mation about the purpose and permissible uses 18
of the emergency contact information provided 19
pursuant to this section; and 20
(G) in the event of a death in custody, no-21
tify the emergency contact if an autopsy is 22
going to be performed and the procedures for 23
obtaining any autopsy report. 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 10
•S 1322 IS
(c) WRITTENNOTIFICATIONPLAN.—The policies 1
and procedures described in subsection (a) shall instruct 2
detention agencies to develop a written notification plan, 3
or revise an existing written notification plan, that pro-4
vides for notification of a death, serious illness, or serious 5
injury of an individual in custody that conforms with the 6
policies described in subsection (b). Such written notifica-7
tion plans shall be published on the website of the deten-8
tion agency and made accessible to individuals in the cus-9
tody of the detention agency through inclusion in any in-10
take information, manuals, or other materials distributed 11
or made available to individuals upon being taken into cus-12
tody. 13
(d) A
DDITIONALREQUIREMENTS.— 14
(1) DOJ
SUPPORT OF STATE AND LOCAL IM -15
PLEMENTATION OF MODEL POLICIES .—To support 16
implementation of the model policies and procedures 17
described in subsection (a)(2), the Attorney General 18
shall provide ongoing online training and directed 19
outreach to law enforcement, prosecution and de-20
fense agencies through national and State member-21
ship associations, and by other means. 22
(2) P
UBLICATION OF EMERGENCY CONTACT 23
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES .—The Attorney Gen-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 11
•S 1322 IS
eral, acting through the Assistant Attorney General 1
of the Office of Justice Programs, shall— 2
(A) publish on the website of the Office of 3
Justice Programs the policies and procedures 4
described in subsection (b); and 5
(B) shall include a copy of the procedures 6
described in subsection (b)(1) in any intake in-7
formation, manuals, or other materials distrib-8
uted or made available to individuals upon 9
being taken into custody of a detention agency 10
of the Department of Justice. 11
(3) I
NTERGOVERNMENTAL SERVICE CONTRACTS 12
AND AGREEMENTS .—Any Department of Justice de-13
tention agency, including the United States Mar-14
shals Service, that contracts with State, munici-15
pality, Tribal, private, or other entities to house in-16
dividuals in custody shall require adoption of the 17
procedures or substantially similar procedures as de-18
scribed in subsection (b)(2) as a condition of such 19
contract or contract renewal. 20
(4) D
EPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO MONITOR 21
COMPLIANCE WITH NOTIFICATION AND COMMUNICA -22
TION REQUIREMENTS .—The Attorney General shall 23
appoint an individual within the Department of Jus-24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 12
•S 1322 IS
tice with the authority to receive and investigate 1
complaints regarding the failure to provide— 2
(A) the notifications required under this 3
Act, including inadequate notifications; and 4
(B) opportunities for communication and 5
visitation in accordance with this Act. 6
(e) V
OLUNTARYCOLLECTION.—A detention agency 7
may not— 8
(1) attempt to persuade or coerce an individual 9
in the custody of a detention agency to provide the 10
information described in subsection (a); or 11
(2) impose any penalty, fine, or fee on the indi-12
vidual for— 13
(A) the failure or refusal of the individual 14
to provide the information requested; or 15
(B) providing information that is later de-16
termined to be inaccurate. 17
SEC. 5. RULES OF CONSTRUCTION. 18
Nothing in this Act may be construed to— 19
(1) create any legal or financial obligation on 20
the part of any individual designated as a next of 21
kin or other emergency contact under this Act; 22
(2) require the individual in custody of a deten-23
tion agency to provide the emergency contact infor-24
mation described in section 4(a); or 25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 13
•S 1322 IS
(3) create a private right of action to enforce 1
any provision of this Act. 2
Æ
VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:42 Apr 17, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1322.IS S1322
kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB