There are two directions a death or a serious illness can travel through a prison wall, and a family usually only thinks about it when it is already happening.
One direction is from the outside in. Someone in the family is dying or has died, and you need the prison to tell your incarcerated person, and you are wondering whether they can be there for it. The other direction is from the inside out. Your person is the one who is sick, or who has died in custody, and you are trying to find out what happened and what you are allowed to do. This article walks both directions for Pennsylvania, run by the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
I am going to tell you something up front, because I learned it the hard way and I do not want it to land on you cold. An approval that has been granted is not the same as your person being there. Those are two different things, and the gap between them is where families get hurt.
When the Death or Illness Is on the Outside
If someone in the family is gravely ill or has died and you want your incarcerated person notified, the channel is the facility, usually through the chaplain or the assigned counselor. Call the institution, explain the emergency, and be ready to provide verification, such as the funeral home's information or a death certificate for a death, or a hospital or physician confirmation for a serious illness.
Notification is the part that tends to work. Whether your person can leave the prison to be there is a separate and much harder question.
Attending a Funeral or a Deathbed Visit in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania handles this through its visiting policy, which provides for a private viewing or a deathbed visit, with a specific worksheet and process. Read the following as the realities.
What it is, and who can be considered. Pennsylvania frames the trip as a private viewing of the deceased or a deathbed visit, not attendance at a public funeral service with other mourners. Inmates other than those serving life sentences may generally be considered, and the warden may grant the trip only to an inmate who has shown enough responsibility to give reasonable assurance the requirements will be met. The timing and the distance allowed can depend on how close the person is to release or how long they have been incarcerated.
The family requests it, and the prison reviews internally. For a person in a state prison, the family makes the request and prison officials conduct their own internal review. A court order is not required. Because the review takes time and certain conditions have to be arranged first, start the request the moment you know it is needed.
You will likely pay the cost. Pennsylvania's policy includes a private viewing and deathbed visit worksheet that addresses costs, and the coverage of those costs has to be worked out before the trip is approved. Ask the counselor for the worksheet and a cost estimate early.
It is escorted and discretionary. Expect a guarded trip under staff supervision, and understand approval is never guaranteed.
Now the part I promised you.
I was told I had a five-hour furlough to attend my mother's funeral. I was told to get dressed and wait for the escort. I got dressed. I waited. The escort never came. Word going around was that the warden had been moved or was on leave, and the assistant warden denied it. Nobody walked up to me with a form. The day just passed. What I got, in the end, was a free phone call.
I tell you that not to make you bitter before you start, but to make you smart. An approval that exists on paper is not a person standing at a graveside. Administrators change. Acting wardens reverse decisions. Escort details fall through. If you are pinning the family's grief on the hope that they will physically be there, you are building on sand. Plan the service around the family that can be there. If your person makes it, that is a mercy. If they do not, you were not depending on it, and the grief is heavy enough without that.
Ask about a phone call at minimum. Pennsylvania prison staff have specifically pointed families to the religious and counseling departments in the housing units when a trip is denied. Even when a trip is denied or your person is serving life, the facility can usually allow a call and provide support. Ask directly, and ask early.
When the Illness or Death Is on the Inside
The other direction is harder, because you have less control and the information comes slower.
If your person is seriously ill in custody. Push for medical information, knowing that medical privacy rules limit what staff will share unless the incarcerated person has authorized release of information to you. Encourage your person, while able, to sign the Department's authorization for release of information form naming you, which also matters because the medical records are essential to any compassionate release effort. If the condition is terminal or grave, learn about Pennsylvania's compassionate release now, not later.
Pennsylvania compassionate release. This is one of the areas where Pennsylvania is unusual, and I want to be straight with you about it. Pennsylvania's compassionate release law, technically called a deferment of sentence, is decided by the sentencing court, not by a parole board, under a state statute. A judge can temporarily defer the sentence and move the person to outside care in two narrow situations. In the first, the person is seriously ill, is expected to live less than a year, and needs medical treatment better provided at a hospital or long-term care nursing facility. In the second, the person is terminally ill, no longer able to walk, likely to die in the near future, and would receive appropriate care from a licensed hospice provider. The incarcerated person, the Department, or a person approved by the court may file the petition.
The hard truth. Pennsylvania's law is widely recognized as one of the narrowest and least used compassionate release laws in the country. It is a temporary deferral, not a reduction of the sentence, and the requirements, especially that a hospice candidate be terminally ill and no longer ambulatory and likely to die in the near future, are so strict that very few people qualify, and the process commonly takes two months or more. I tell you this not to discourage you but so you do not lose precious time assuming it will be quick or easy. If your person may qualify, move immediately and get experienced legal help.
What families can do here. Start by getting your person to sign the authorization for release of information so the medical records can be obtained, because without the records neither the court nor a hospice will act. Get the medical department to provide the records and a physician's letter confirming the condition. Identify a hospice or facility near the family that will accept the person, and sort out how care will be paid for, often through Medicaid. Then get the petition filed in the sentencing court, ideally with help from an attorney or an organization experienced in Pennsylvania compassionate release. Begin today, because the timeline is long and a terminal illness does not wait.
If your person dies in custody. The Department notifies the family using the emergency contact your person has on record, which is exactly why that contact must be correct now. Make sure the listed person is reachable and will tell the rest of the family.
The coroner, and the autopsy. Pennsylvania uses a county-based system of coroners and medical examiners, and by law a death occurring in a prison or penal institution is one the county coroner must investigate. The coroner determines the cause and manner of death, is required to identify the deceased and notify the next of kin, and decides whether an autopsy is necessary. Not every death is autopsied. Where the cause is clear and there is no suspicion of criminal involvement, the coroner may rely on a records review, scene investigation, and external examination, while deaths involving possible violence or criminal neglect generally are autopsied, often with toxicology testing. This means a prison death is examined by the county's independent death investigator rather than being decided inside the prison.
Getting the records, and claiming the body. Here is an important Pennsylvania reality. The basic cause and manner of death are public, but the full autopsy, toxicology, and coroner's investigation reports are generally released only to the legal next of kin, on written request, and practice varies a great deal by county, with some counties charging high fees or being slow to release. To get the full records, submit a written request to the coroner or medical examiner office in the county where the death occurred, and be prepared to show you are the legal next of kin and to follow up. The body is released to the next of kin, generally through a funeral home, once the coroner's work allows. Make your intention to claim your person known promptly, and be clear about who the legal next of kin is, because disputes between family members slow everything down. The death certificate is available through the Pennsylvania Department of Health vital records. If the family cannot afford a funeral, ask the funeral home and the county about assistance.
What Families Can Do Before a Crisis
Most of the pain in these situations comes from decisions that were never made in calm times. A few things you can do now, while no one is dying:
Make sure your person has the correct emergency contact and next of kin recorded with the Department, and keep it current. This determines who the prison calls.
Have your person sign the Department's authorization for release of information form naming the family members who should be allowed to speak with medical staff, since the same records are needed for compassionate release.
Learn whether your person is serving a life sentence, because that affects whether a private viewing or deathbed visit is even possible, and ask the counselor about the worksheet and costs in advance.
If your person has a serious or terminal condition, do not wait. Begin gathering medical records, identify a hospice or facility that will accept the person, sort out payment, and get an attorney to file a compassionate release petition in the sentencing court, knowing the process is narrow and slow.
Keep the funeral home's contact information ready, both to verify an outside death so your person can be notified, and to claim your person if they die inside.
State Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Corrections: contact the institution directly; use the DOC website and inmate locator for facility, chaplain, and counselor contacts.
The sentencing court, and organizations such as the Pennsylvania Prison Society and the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania: for compassionate release, the deferment of sentence petition under state law.
County Coroner or Medical Examiner: for the cause and manner of death, the autopsy, and the records in the county where the death occurred.
Pennsylvania Department of Health, Division of Vital Records: for certified copies of the death certificate.
Pennsylvania 211: dial 2-1-1 for grief support, funeral assistance resources, and counseling referrals.
Frequently asked questions
How do I notify a Pennsylvania prison of a death?
Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or your person's counselor. Explain the emergency and be ready to provide verification, such as the funeral home's information or a death certificate for a death, or a hospital or physician confirmation for a serious illness. The staff will notify your incarcerated person. This step is separate from whether your person can be approved for a private viewing or deathbed visit, which the family requests and the prison reviews internally under its visiting policy.
Can a Pennsylvania inmate attend a funeral?
Pennsylvania frames the trip as a private viewing of the deceased or a deathbed visit, not attendance at a public funeral service. Inmates other than those serving life sentences may generally be considered, and the warden grants it only to a person who has shown enough responsibility to assure the requirements will be met. The family requests it, the prison reviews internally, no court order is needed, and the trip is escorted and discretionary. Those serving life are generally not eligible, so ask about a phone call.
Who pays for a private viewing or deathbed visit?
Generally the family. Pennsylvania's policy includes a private viewing and deathbed visit worksheet that addresses costs, and how those costs will be covered has to be worked out before the trip is approved. Ask your person's counselor for the worksheet and a cost estimate as early as possible, since arranging payment is one of the conditions that must be settled first. If the cost is a barrier or the trip is denied, ask about arranging a phone call instead, which the chaplain or counseling staff can help with.
Will the prison tell my relative about a family death?
Yes. Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or counselor, explain the emergency, and provide verification such as funeral home information, a death certificate, or a physician confirmation for a serious illness. The staff will notify your incarcerated person, and Pennsylvania staff specifically point families to the religious and counseling departments in the housing units for support. This notification is separate from whether your person is approved for a private viewing or deathbed visit, which is discretionary.
How is family notified if an inmate dies in PA?
The Department notifies the family using the emergency contact in your person's record, which is why that record must be correct now. Make sure the listed person is reachable and will inform the rest of the family. Separately, because a death in a prison is a death the county coroner must investigate, the coroner is required to identify the deceased and notify the next of kin as part of determining the cause and manner of death.
What is compassionate release in Pennsylvania?
It is Pennsylvania's medical release route, technically a deferment of sentence, decided by the sentencing court rather than a parole board. A judge can temporarily move the person to outside care if they are seriously ill, expected to live less than a year, and need care better provided at a hospital or nursing facility, or if they are terminally ill, no longer able to walk, likely to die in the near future, and would get appropriate care from a licensed hospice. It is widely considered one of the narrowest such laws in the country, and the process is slow.
Can family request compassionate release in PA?
The petition is filed with the sentencing court by the incarcerated person, the Department, or a person approved by the court, but family can drive the work. Get your person to sign the authorization for release of information, obtain the medical records and a physician's letter, find a hospice or facility near the family that will accept the person, and sort out payment, often through Medicaid. Then get the petition filed, ideally with an attorney or an experienced organization. Start immediately, since the process commonly takes two months or more.
Who can claim the body after an inmate dies in PA?
The next of kin, generally through a funeral home. The body is released once the county coroner's work allows. Make your intention known promptly and be clear about who the legal next of kin is, since disputes cause delay. To obtain the full autopsy, toxicology, and coroner's reports, submit a written request to the coroner or medical examiner in the county where the death occurred, since those full records are generally released only to the legal next of kin. The death certificate is available through Pennsylvania vital records.
Is there an autopsy when an inmate dies in PA?
A death in a prison is one the county coroner must investigate, but not every case is autopsied. The coroner determines the cause and manner of death and decides whether an autopsy is necessary. Where the cause is clear and there is no suspicion of criminal involvement, the coroner may rely on a records review, scene investigation, and external examination, while deaths involving possible violence or neglect generally are autopsied, often with toxicology. A prison death is examined by the county's independent death investigator, not decided inside the prison.
What can I do before a serious illness becomes a crisis?
Make sure your person has the correct emergency contact and next of kin on file and keep it current, since that decides who is notified. Have your person sign the authorization for release of information naming family who can speak with medical staff, since the same records are needed for compassionate release. Learn whether your person is serving life, since that affects a viewing or deathbed visit. If illness is grave, gather medical records, find a hospice that will accept the person, sort out payment, and get an attorney to file a deferment of sentence petition early. ---