SB 425 -- CORONERS

SPONSOR:  Scott (Mayer)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass by consent" by the Committee on
Crime Prevention and Public Safety by a vote of 17 to 0.

This bill makes several changes in the law governing county
coroners and their authority to conduct death investigations.
The bill requires that when a person dies while being transferred
from one county to another county or state and the death could be
a homicide, suicide, accident, child fatality, or one that
occurred in an unusual or suspicious manner, a death
investigation must be conducted by the coroner in the county from
which the person was being transferred.  The bill clarifies that
when a person dies while being transferred from Missouri to
another state for medical treatment, the coroner in the county
from which the person was transferred (the transferring county)
is responsible for investigating the death.

The bill also requires that the coroner in the county in which a
transferred person dies (the receiving county) must obtain
authorization from the coroner in the transferring county before
conducting an investigation.  Current law allows both county
coroners to investigate the death.

The bill also requires that when a person dies in a medical
facility after being transferred, that facility's staff must
notify the coroner in the transferring county of the death.

FISCAL NOTE:  Cost to General Revenue Fund of Minimal in FY 2004,
FY 2005, and FY 2006.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that sometimes when an injured person
is transferred by helicopter or ambulance from one county to
another (typically from a rural community to a hospital in an
urban area), the paperwork in the death investigation can get
muddled.  The bill solves that problem by clearly establishing
which coroner is obligated to conduct the investigation.

Testifying for the bill were Senator Scott; and Missouri Coroners
and Medical Examiners Association.

OPPONENTS:  There was no opposition voiced to the committee.

Richard Smreker, Senior Legislative Analyst

Missouri House of Representatives
Last Updated July 25, 2003 at 10:13 am