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 New Hampshire, run by the New Hampshire 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 caseworker. 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 Bedside Visit in New Hampshire
New Hampshire handles emergency trips through escorted leave arranged at the institution, under the Department's policy directives. The Department decides these case by case, and approval turns on custody level, security, the verified relationship, and the circumstances. Read the following as the realities, not as promises, and confirm the current process with the facility, because the specifics are handled there.
It is escorted and in custody. Expect a guarded trip with staff supervision and, depending on custody level, restraints, with the visit limited to a short, private period.
It is discretionary, and never guaranteed. Even when a trip is approved, it can be canceled or fall through on the day. Do not build the family's plans around it.
Ask about the alternatives in the same breath. When an in-person trip is denied or not feasible, ask the chaplain or caseworker about a phone call and whether a video option for a funeral or bedside farewell can be arranged. Ask directly, and ask early.
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.
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 a release naming you. If the condition is terminal or grave, learn about New Hampshire's medical parole now, not later.
New Hampshire medical parole. New Hampshire law allows the Adult Parole Board to grant medical parole, and the way it gets started is specific to this state. The Board can only consider medical parole on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Corrections and the Director of Medical and Forensic Services, after they review a certification from a licensed physician or advanced practice registered nurse. The request must fit one of three medical categories: permanently incapacitated or permanently debilitated; a terminal or permanently debilitating illness where treatment will not cure or stop the progression and comfort care or hospice is offered instead; or a serious and complex medical condition that the Department cannot manage. A person sentenced to life without parole or to death is not eligible. A useful point for families: it can be considered regardless of how much time is left on the minimum sentence.
How the petition works, and what families can do. The Director of Medical and Forensic Services may petition the Parole Board, on the prisoner's behalf, for a hearing to decide eligibility. Because the route runs through the prison's medical leadership, the most useful thing you can do is push the medical side: make sure the prison's medical staff and the Director of Medical and Forensic Services know about the diagnosis and prognosis, ask in writing that your person be evaluated for medical parole and that the certification be completed, document everything, and consider an attorney. The Board can require periodic medical exams as a condition, and if the condition improves, medical parole can be revoked. Start early, because 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 medical examiner, and the investigation. New Hampshire has a centralized, statewide Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which sits within the Department of Justice and is responsible for determining the cause and manner of sudden, unexpected, or unnatural deaths within its jurisdiction. Here is the part that matters for families: a death occurring in legal custody, including any death in a prison or penal institution, falls under the medical examiner's jurisdiction. So a New Hampshire prison death is examined by an independent state forensic authority rather than being decided inside the prison, which can matter to families who want to be sure the cause of death is determined properly.
The autopsy, and getting the report. The medical examiner decides whether a full autopsy is needed after gathering initial information; an autopsy may not be required when there is adequate medical history and no signs of foul play, in which case an external examination and testing may be enough. Autopsies are performed by forensic pathologists, and an autopsy does not interfere with the final viewing or funeral. After an autopsy, the next of kin receives an initial verbal report by telephone, with the final written report following once testing is complete, typically several weeks to a few months later. Except in homicide cases, the next of kin can request the written autopsy report, and there is no charge to the next of kin for it. If your family has a religious or other objection to autopsy, raise it immediately, because the office considers such objections case by case, though some custodial and forensic cases will still require examination.
Claiming the body and getting answers. Local funeral homes provide transportation to the medical examiner at state expense, and if you have already chosen a funeral home, they are contacted first, so choosing one early helps. The body is released to the next of kin once the medical examiner'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 New Hampshire vital records. If the family cannot afford a funeral, ask the funeral home and the town or 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 a release of information naming the family members who should be allowed to speak with medical staff. Without it, privacy rules will keep you in the dark.
Learn your person's custody level, because it affects whether an escorted funeral or bedside trip is realistic, and ask the chaplain in advance about phone and video options.
If your person has a terminal or grave condition, do not wait. Ask in writing that your person be evaluated for medical parole and that the medical certification be completed, document the diagnosis, and consider an attorney. Remember the petition runs through the Director of Medical and Forensic Services.
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, since the funeral home you choose is contacted first for transport.
State Resources
New Hampshire Department of Corrections: contact the institution directly; use the NHDOC website and inmate locator for facility, chaplain, and caseworker contacts.
New Hampshire Adult Parole Board: for medical parole of a terminally or gravely ill incarcerated person.
Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, Department of Justice: for the cause and manner of death, autopsy, and the autopsy report.
New Hampshire Division of Vital Records Administration: for certified copies of the death certificate.
New Hampshire 211: dial 2-1-1 for grief support, funeral assistance resources, and counseling referrals.
Frequently asked questions
How do I notify a New Hampshire prison of a death?
Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or your person's caseworker. 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 an escorted leave to attend a funeral or visit a seriously ill relative, which is its own discretionary process arranged at the facility.
Can a New Hampshire inmate attend a funeral?
Sometimes, through an escorted leave arranged at the institution under the Department's policy directives, but it is discretionary and never guaranteed. Approval turns on custody level, security, the verified relationship, and the circumstances. Expect a guarded trip with staff supervision and, depending on custody, restraints, and a short private visit. Because approval is uncertain and trips can fall through, ask the chaplain or caseworker about a phone call or a video farewell as a fallback, and confirm the current process with the facility.
Will the prison tell my relative about a family death?
Yes. Call the institution and ask for the chaplain or caseworker, 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. This notification is separate from the harder question of whether your person can be approved for an escorted leave to attend the funeral or visit a critically ill relative, which is discretionary and arranged at the facility.
How is family told if an inmate dies in New Hampshire?
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 custody falls under the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the medical examiner determines the cause and manner of death and, after any autopsy, provides the next of kin an initial verbal report by phone, with the written report to follow.
What is medical parole in New Hampshire?
It is New Hampshire's medical release route, decided by the Adult Parole Board. The Board can only consider it on the recommendation of the Commissioner of Corrections and the Director of Medical and Forensic Services, after review of a physician or APRN certification. The request must fit one of three categories: permanently incapacitated or debilitated; a terminal or permanently debilitating illness; or a serious and complex condition the Department cannot manage. People sentenced to life without parole or death are not eligible, and it can be considered regardless of time left on the minimum sentence.
Can family request medical parole in New Hampshire?
Family cannot grant it, and the formal petition runs through the Director of Medical and Forensic Services, who may petition the Parole Board on the prisoner's behalf. But you can push it forward. Make sure the prison's medical staff and the Director of Medical and Forensic Services know the diagnosis and prognosis, ask in writing that your person be evaluated and that the medical certification be completed, and document everything. An attorney helps. Start early, since the process has several steps and a terminal illness does not wait.
Who can claim the body after an inmate dies in NH?
The next of kin. Local funeral homes provide transportation to the medical examiner at state expense, and the funeral home you have chosen is contacted first, so selecting one early helps. The body is released to the next of kin once the medical examiner's work allows. Make your intention known promptly and be clear about who the legal next of kin is, since disputes cause delay. The death certificate is available through New Hampshire vital records once completed.
Is there an autopsy when an inmate dies in NH?
Often, but not always. A death in legal custody falls under the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which decides whether a full autopsy is needed after gathering initial information. An autopsy may not be required where there is adequate medical history and no signs of foul play, in which case an external examination and testing may suffice. Autopsies are performed by forensic pathologists and do not interfere with the funeral. If your family has a religious or other objection, raise it immediately, since it is considered case by case.
How do I get the cause of death and autopsy report?
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determines the cause and manner of death. After an autopsy, the next of kin receives an initial verbal report by telephone, and the final written report follows once all testing is complete, typically several weeks to a few months later. Except in homicide cases, the next of kin can request the written autopsy report, and there is no charge to the next of kin. The death certificate itself is obtained separately through New Hampshire vital records.
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 with the Department and keep it current, since that decides who is notified. Have your person sign a release of information naming family who can speak with medical staff. Learn the custody level and ask about phone and video options. If illness is grave, ask in writing for a medical parole evaluation and that the certification be completed, document the diagnosis, and consider an attorney, remembering the petition runs through the Director of Medical and Forensic Services. ---