OFFICE OF DEATH INVESTIGATOR.

(a) The commissioners court of a county may establish an office of death investigator and employ one or more death investigators to assist a person in the county who conducts an inquest. A death investigator serves at the will of the commissioners court and on terms set by the commissioners court.

(b) To be eligible for employment as a death investigator, a person must have experience or training in investigative procedures concerning the circumstances, manner, and cause of the death of a person.

(c) At the request and under the supervision of a justice of the peace or other person who conducts an inquest, a death investigator may assist the person conducting the inquest to:

(1) investigate the time, place, and manner of death; and

(2) lock and seal the premises of the deceased person.

(d) A death investigator who assists in an inquest under Subsection (c) shall, not later than eight hours after the death investigator completes the investigation, make a complete report of the death investigator's activities, findings, and conclusions to the justice of the peace or other person conducting the inquest.

(e) A death investigator employed under this article is entitled to receive compensation from the county in an amount set by the commissioners court.