AN ACT CONCERNING THE DISCLOSURE OF AUTOPSY REPORTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 19a-411 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2011):

(a) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall keep full and complete records properly indexed, giving the name, if known, of every person whose death is investigated, the place where the body was found, the date, cause and manner of death and containing all other relevant information concerning the death and a copy of the death certificate. The full report and detailed findings of the autopsy and toxicological and other scientific investigation, if any, shall be a part of the record in each case. The office shall promptly notify the state's attorney having jurisdiction of such death and deliver to the state's attorney copies of all pertinent records relating to every death in which further investigation may be advisable. Any state's attorney, chief of police or other law enforcement official may, upon request, secure copies of such records or other information deemed necessary by such official for the performance of his or her official duties.

(b) The report of examinations conducted by the Chief Medical Examiner, Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, an associate medical examiner or an authorized assistant medical examiner, and of the autopsy and other scientific findings may be made available to the public only through the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and in accordance with this section, section 1-210 and the regulations of the commission. Any person may obtain copies of such records upon such conditions and payment of such fees as may be prescribed by the commission, except that no person with a legitimate interest in the records shall be denied access to such records, and no person may be denied access to records concerning a person in the custody of the state at the time of death. As used in this section, a "person in the custody of the state" is a person committed to the custody of (1) the Commissioner of Correction for confinement in a correctional institution or facility or a community residence, (2) the Commissioner of Children and Families, or (3) the Commissioner of Developmental Services.

(c) Upon application by the Chief Medical Examiner or state's attorney to the superior court for the judicial district in which the death occurred, or to any judge of the superior court in such judicial district when said court is not then sitting, said court or such judge may limit such disclosure to the extent that there is a showing by the Chief Medical Examiner or state's attorney of compelling public interest against disclosure of any particular document or documents.

(d) Public authorities, professional, medical, legal or scientific bodies or universities or similar research bodies may, in the discretion of the commission, have access to all records upon such conditions and payment of such fees as may be prescribed by the commission. Where such information is made available for scientific or research purposes, such conditions shall include a requirement that the identity of the deceased persons shall remain confidential and shall not be published.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, upon the request of a parent or guardian of a child whose death was caused by an apparent homicide, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall not make the records of its investigation and examination of such death, including the autopsy report and other scientific findings, available to the public.

Statement of Purpose:

To allow the parents of a child who was a homicide victim to request that the autopsy report not be publicly disclosed.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]