Rick Hill embarked on a new career in 2015 in East Texas as the Brazos County justice of the peace. Despite his lack of medical or legal background, Hill took on the role with enthusiasm. He quickly became involved in various aspects of the job, including conducting inquests on suspicious deaths.
As a justice of the peace, Hill was responsible for a wide range of tasks, from overseeing civil, criminal, and traffic trials to conducting truancy court and performing marriages. One of the most challenging aspects of his job was ordering autopsies on bodies that required further investigation. Hill explained that certain unnatural deaths, such as suicides, homicides, and traffic fatalities, almost always warranted an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death.
Hill’s experience highlighted the evolving role of justices of the peace in Texas over the past two centuries. Initially established to resolve minor disputes in the community, justices of the peace now play a crucial role in investigating suspicious deaths. However, concerns have been raised about the lack of oversight and training for justices of the peace when it comes to conducting death inquests and ordering autopsies.
While some counties in Texas have established medical examiner’s offices to handle death investigations, the majority still rely on justices of the peace to perform these duties. This has led to calls for more stringent regulations and training for justices of the peace to ensure proper handling of death investigations.
In recent years, efforts have been made to address these issues, including proposals to lower the population threshold for establishing medical examiner’s offices in counties. By creating regional partnerships for medical examiner services, more counties could benefit from expert forensic investigations and relieve the burden on justices of the peace.
Moving forward, the focus remains on improving the death investigation process in Texas and ensuring that all suspicious deaths are properly investigated. The goal is to provide justice for the deceased and their families while upholding the integrity of the legal system. As the debate over the role of justices of the peace in death investigations continues, stakeholders are working towards finding solutions that prioritize accountability, transparency, and professionalism in handling these sensitive cases.
