Bill Text: HI HB2150 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Coroners.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2024-01-24 - Referred to HLT, LGO, FIN, referral sheet 2 [HB2150 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-HB2150-Introduced.html
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2150 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to coroners.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that coroners should be separate from law enforcement and free to make independent judgments when investigating deaths. Under current state law, the chief of police for a county serves as the ex officio coroner if the county does not have a medical examiner. The ethical concerns with this dual role were illustrated by the 2023 wildfires on the island of Maui, where questions existed about police behavior during wildfire evacuations. Allowing Maui's chief of police to oversee death investigations, including death counts and cause of death determinations, raised public concerns about police accountability and government transparency.
The legislature believes that making coroners independent from law enforcement will promote transparency, avoid conflicts of interest, and encourage more confidence in coroners' rulings.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the mayor of each county to appoint, and the respective county or city council to confirm, a county medical examiner; and
(2) Provide that the medical examiner for each county shall serve as the county's coroner.
SECTION 2. Section 841-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-1 [Who are coroners.]
Medical examiners and county coroners. (a)
The mayor of each county shall appoint, and the respective county
council or city council shall confirm, a medical examiner to perform medical
investigation services establishing the cause of any unattended death in the
respective county. The medical examiner
shall be exempt from chapter 76.
(b) Each medical examiner shall be licensed as a
physician under chapter 453 and certified as an anatomic or forensic
pathologist by the American Board of Pathology.
(c) The [chief of police or his authorized
subordinate of the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the] medical
examiner of [the city and county of Honolulu,] each county shall,
ex officio, be the coroner for [his] that respective county."
SECTION 3. Section 841-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-14 Autopsies and further
investigations. [[](a)[]] If, in the opinion of the coroner, [or of
the] coroner's physician, [or of the] prosecuting attorney, or [of
the] chief of police [(in the city and county of Honolulu)], an
autopsy of the remains of any human body appearing to have come to death under
any of the circumstances set forth in section 841-3 is necessary in the
interest of the public safety or welfare, that person shall cause [to have]
an autopsy to be performed[, such an autopsy]. If, in the opinion of the coroner's
physician, a further or additional investigation as to the cause of death is
necessary, the coroner's physician may conduct the same or have the same made,
and the expenses thereof shall be paid by the county concerned, and for this
purpose, the coroner's physician shall have the duties and powers conferred
upon the coroner or deputy coroner by sections 841-4 to 841-8.
[[](b)[]] Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, the coroner
or coroner's physician [or medical examiner] of any county [(including
the city and county of Honolulu)] may cause to have performed an autopsy to
determine cause of death upon the remains of any human body which is brought
into or found within the State and which appears to have [come to death]
died under any of the circumstances set forth in section 841-3, even
though [such] the circumstances may have occurred without the
State. The coroner or coroner's
physician [or medical examiner] of any county [(including the city
and county of Honolulu)] shall have the right to retain tissues, including
fetal material, of the body removed at the time of autopsy to be used for
necessary or advisable scientific investigation, including research, teaching,
and therapeutic purposes."
SECTION 4. Section 841-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-17 Hospital records. The chief of police [of the city and
county of Honolulu] or the chief's deputy, [and the] coroner or
deputy coroner, and [the] coroner's physician may examine the records of
any hospital relating to any patient of the hospital in connection with any
investigation under this chapter. The
hospital may require written proof signed by the coroner of the fact of the
investigation and of the authority of the person desiring to examine the
records."
SECTION 5. Section 841-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-18 Coroner's physician;
laboratory facilities. [The
medical examiner or any of the medical examiner's assistants in the city and
county of Honolulu, and any] Any experienced or qualified government
physician designated by the coroner in [the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and
Kauai,] each county shall be the coroner's physician for [such]
that county or city and county.
The facilities of the laboratories of the state department of health
shall be made available to the coroner's physician. [The] As used in this section, the
term [government physician as used in this chapter] "government
physician" means a physician employed by the State or any of its
political subdivisions."
SECTION 6. Section 844D-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
limit the authority of the [medical examiner of the city and county of
Honolulu or] county coroners or their agents, in the course of their
scientific investigation, to use genetic and DNA technology to inquire into and
determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of death, or to employ or use
outside laboratories, hospitals, or research institutions that use genetic and
DNA technology."
SECTION 7. Sections 6E-43.6, 321-342, 321-471, 321-502, 324-1, 327-22, 327-23, 327-32, 560:3-1212, and 841-14.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the word "coroner" wherever the phrase "medical examiner or coroner" or "coroner or medical examiner" appears, as the context requires.
SECTION 8. Section 52D-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§52D-4] Ex officio
coroner. Where there
is no other county medical examiner, the chief of police or any duly authorized
subordinate shall be ex officio county coroner.
An ex officio county coroner shall have all the powers and perform all
the duties of coroner, within that county, as provided by law."]
SECTION 9. In accordance with section 9 of article VII, of the Constitution of the State of Hawaii and sections 37-91 and 37-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the legislature has determined that the appropriations contained in this Act will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024-2025 to be exceeded by $ , or per cent. The reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling are that the appropriations made in this Act are necessary to serve the public interest and to meet the need provided for by this Act.
SECTION 10. The appropriation contained in this Act constitute the State's share of costs as required under Article VIII, section 5 of the Hawaii State Constitution.
SECTION 11. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the establishment of a county medical examiner position.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the county of Maui for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 12. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the establishment of a county medical examiner position.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the county of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 13. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the establishment of a county medical examiner position.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the county of Kauai for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 14. No later than days after the effective date of this act, or no later than days after a vacancy occurs in the county's medical examiner position, the mayor of each county shall appoint, and the respective county or city council shall confirm, a county medical examiner pursuant to section 841-1(a) and (b), Hawaii Revised Statutes.
SECTION 15. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 16. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Medical
Examiners; County Coroners; Appropriations; General Fund Expenditure Ceiling
Exceeded
Description:
Requires
the mayor of each county to appoint, and the county council or city council to
confirm, a county medical examiner. Provides
that the medical examiner for each county shall serve as the county's coroner. Makes conforming amendments. Appropriates moneys to the counties of Maui,
Hawaii, and Kauai for the establishment of county medical examiner positions.
Declares that the appropriations exceed the general fund expenditure ceiling
for 2024-2025.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
