Bill Text: MS HB1068 | 2024 | Regular Session | Enrolled

Mississippi House Bill 1068

Bill Title: County medical examiners; require to enter information electronically.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Enrolled) 2024-04-23 - Due From Governor 04/29/24 [HB1068 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2024-HB1068-Enrolled.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2024 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Human Services

By: Representative McGee

House Bill 1068

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-61-59, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ADD THE DEATH OF ANY PERSON UNDER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN TO THE LIST OF DEATHS CATEGORIZED AS "AFFECTING PUBLIC INTEREST"; TO AMEND SECTION 41-61-63, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS TO ENTER ELECTRONICALLY THE INFORMATION FOR ALL DEATHS, AND ALL ASSOCIATED TOXICOLOGY REPORTS, THAT OCCUR IN THE EXAMINER'S COUNTY IN A MANNER PRESCRIBED BY THE STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER; TO AMEND SECTION 13-1-23, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CREATE AN EVIDENTIARY PRESUMPTION OF DEATH TO BE KNOWN AS THE "ZEB HUGHES LAW" WHENEVER UNCONTRADICTED SWORN TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE SUPPORT A DETERMINATION OF THE DEATH OF A MISSING PERSON WHO HAS UNDERGONE A CATASTROPHIC EVENT THAT EXPOSED THE PERSON TO IMMINENT PERIL; TO CREATE NEW SECTION 41-57-8, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE REGISTRAR OF VITAL STATISTICS TO PREPARE A DEATH CERTIFICATE FOR A MISSING PERSON LEGALLY PRESUMED TO BE DEAD UPON RECEIPT OF A PROPER COURT ORDER; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 41-61-59, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-61-59. (1) A person's death that affects the public interest as specified in subsection (2) of this section shall be promptly reported to the medical examiner by the physician in attendance, any hospital employee, any law enforcement officer having knowledge of the death, the embalmer or other funeral home employee, any emergency medical technician, any relative or any other person present. The appropriate medical examiner shall notify the municipal or state law enforcement agency or sheriff and take charge of the body. When the medical examiner has received notification under Section 41-39-15(6) that the deceased is medically suitable to be an organ and/or tissue donor, the medical examiner's authority over the body shall be subject to the provisions of Section 41-39-15(6). The appropriate medical examiner shall notify the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of the body in cases of death as described in subsection (2)(m) or (n) of this section.

(2) A death affecting the public interest includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(a) Violent death, including homicidal, suicidal or accidental death.

(b) Death caused by thermal, chemical, electrical or radiation injury.

(d) Death related to disease thought to be virulent or contagious that may constitute a public hazard.

(e) Death that has occurred unexpectedly or from an unexplained cause.

(f) Death of a person confined in a prison, jail or correctional institution.

(g) Death of a person where a physician was not in attendance within thirty-six (36) hours preceding death, or in prediagnosed terminal or bedfast cases, within thirty (30) days preceding death.

(h) Death of a person where the body is not claimed by a relative or a friend.

(i) Death of a person where the identity of the deceased is unknown.

(j) Death of a child under the age of two (2) years where death results from an unknown cause or where the circumstances surrounding the death indicate that sudden infant death syndrome may be the cause of death.

(k) Where a body is brought into this state for disposal and there is reason to believe either that the death was not investigated properly or that there is not an adequate certificate of death.

(l) Where a person is presented to a hospital emergency room unconscious and/or unresponsive, with cardiopulmonary resuscitative measures being performed, and dies within twenty-four (24) hours of admission without regaining consciousness or responsiveness, unless a physician was in attendance within thirty-six (36) hours preceding presentation to the hospital, or in cases in which the decedent had a prediagnosed terminal or bedfast condition, unless a physician was in attendance within thirty (30) days preceding presentation to the hospital.

(m) Death that is caused by drug overdose or which is believed to be caused by drug overdose.

(n) When a stillborn fetus is delivered and the cause of the demise is medically believed to be from the use by the mother of any controlled substance as defined in Section 41-29-105.

(o) Death of any person under the age of eighteen (18).

(3) The State Medical Examiner is empowered to investigate deaths, under the authority hereinafter conferred, in any and all political subdivisions of the state. The county medical examiners and county medical examiner investigators, while appointed for a specific county, may serve other counties on a regular basis with written authorization by the State Medical Examiner, or may serve other counties on an as-needed basis upon the request of the ranking officer of the investigating law enforcement agency. If a death affecting the public interest takes place in a county other than the one where injuries or other substantial causal factors leading to the death have occurred, jurisdiction for investigation of the death may be transferred, by mutual agreement of the respective medical examiners of the counties involved, to the county where the injuries or other substantial causal factors occurred, and the costs of autopsy or other studies necessary to the further investigation of the death shall be borne by the county assuming jurisdiction.

(4) (a) In criminal trials where the testimony of a current or former State Medical Examiner, Deputy State Medical Examiner, or member of the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory is needed, the use of audiovisual communications equipment to present such testimony remotely is allowed when the state has provided written notice to the defendant at least ninety (90) days prior to trial of its intent to present such remote testimony, and the defendant provides no written objection within fourteen (14) days of receiving such notice. Should the defendant object, the remote testimony shall only be permitted upon a finding by the court that the rights of the defendant to confront the witness against the defendant is not violated, that compelling circumstances exist to allow such remote testimony, and that the remote testimony can be provided with appropriate safeguards so as to assure the reliability of the testimony of the witness during the trial.

(b) All persons qualified to administer an oath in the State of Mississippi may swear a witness remotely by audiovisual communication technology, provided they can positively identify the witness and they are able to both see and hear the witness via audiovisual communications equipment.

(5) The chief county medical examiner or chief county medical examiner investigator may receive from the county in which he serves a salary of One Thousand Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($1,250.00) per month, in addition to the fees specified in Sections 41-61-69 and 41-61-75, provided that no county shall pay the chief county medical examiner or chief county medical examiner investigator less than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per month as a salary, in addition to other compensation provided by law. In any county having one or more deputy medical examiners or deputy medical examiner investigators, each deputy may receive from the county in which he serves, in the discretion of the board of supervisors, a salary of not more than Nine Hundred Dollars ($900.00) per month, in addition to the fees specified in Sections 41-61-69 and 41-61-75; however, no county shall pay the deputy medical examiners or deputy medical examiner investigators less than Three Hundred Dollars ($300.00) per month as a salary in addition to other compensation provided by law. For this salary the chief shall assure twenty-four-hour daily and readily available death investigators for the county, and shall maintain copies of all medical examiner death investigations for the county for at least the previous five (5) years. He shall coordinate his office and duties and cooperate with the State Medical Examiner, and the State Medical Examiner shall cooperate with him.

SECTION 2. Section 41-61-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-61-63. (1) The State Medical Examiner shall:

(a) Provide assistance, consultation and training to county medical examiners, county medical examiner investigators and law enforcement officials.

(b) Keep complete records of all relevant information concerning deaths or crimes requiring investigation by the medical examiners.

(c) Promulgate rules and regulations regarding the manner and techniques to be employed while conducting autopsies; the nature, character and extent of investigations to be made into deaths affecting the public interest to allow a medical examiner to render a full and complete analysis and report; the format and matters to be contained in all reports rendered by the medical examiners; and all other things necessary to carry out the purposes of Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79. The State Medical Examiner shall make such amendments to these rules and regulations as may be necessary. All medical examiners, coroners and law enforcement officers shall be subject to such rules.

(d) Cooperate with the crime detection and medical examiner laboratories authorized by Section 45-1-17, the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the Attorney General, law enforcement agencies, the courts and the State of Mississippi.

(e) Promulgate rules and regulations regarding the manner in which county medical examiner investigators are required to enter electronically the information for all deaths that occur in the investigator's county.

(2) In addition, the medical examiners shall:

(a) Upon receipt of notification of a death affecting the public interest, make inquiries regarding the cause and manner of death, reduce the findings to writing and promptly make a full report to the State Medical Examiner on forms prescribed for that purpose. The medical examiner shall be authorized to inspect and copy the medical reports of the decedent whose death is under investigation. However, the records copied shall be maintained as confidential so as to protect the doctor/patient privilege. The medical examiners shall be authorized to request the issuance of subpoenas, through the proper court, for the attendance of persons and for the production of documents as may be required by their investigation.

(b) Complete the medical examiner's portion of the certificate of death within seventy-two (72) hours of assuming jurisdiction over a death, and forward the certificate to the funeral director or to the family. The medical examiner's portion of the certificate of death shall include the decedent's name, the date and time of death, the cause of death and the certifier's signature. If determination of the cause and/or manner of death are pending an autopsy or toxicological or other studies, these sections on the certificate may be marked "pending," with amendment and completion to follow the completion of the postmortem studies. The State Medical Examiner shall be authorized to amend a death certificate; however, the State Medical Examiner is not authorized to change or amend any death certificate after he has resigned or been removed from his office as the State Medical Examiner. Where an attending physician refuses to sign a certificate of death, or in case of any death, the State Medical Examiner or properly qualified designee may sign the death certificate.

(d) In all investigations of deaths affecting the public interest where an autopsy will not be performed, obtain or attempt to obtain postmortem blood, urine and/or vitreous fluids. Medical examiners may also obtain rectal temperature measurements, known hair samples, radiographs, gunshot residue/wiping studies, fingerprints, palm prints and other noninvasive studies as the case warrants and/or as directed by the State Medical Examiner. Decisions shall be made in consultation with investigating law enforcement officials and/or the State Medical Examiner. The cost of all studies not performed by the Mississippi Forensics Laboratory shall be borne by the county. County medical examiner investigators shall be authorized to obtain these postmortem specimens themselves following successful completion of the death investigation training school.

(e) In all investigations of deaths occurring in the manner specified in subsection (2)(j) of Section 41-61-59, a death investigation shall be performed by the medical examiners in accordance with the child death investigation protocol established by the State Medical Examiner. The results of the death investigation shall be reported to the State Medical Examiner on forms prescribed for that purpose by the State Medical Examiner and to appropriate authorities, including police and child protective services, within three (3) days of the conclusion of the death investigation.

(f) Electronically report all deaths, and all associated toxicology reports, that occur in the examiner's county to the State Medical Examiner in a manner prescribed by the State Medical Examiner.

(3) The medical examiner shall not use his position or authority to favor any particular funeral home or funeral homes.

SECTION 3. Section 13-1-23, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

13-1-23. (1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, a * * * ~~Any~~ person who shall remain beyond the sea, or absent himself or herself from this state, or conceal himself or herself in this state, for seven (7) years successively without being heard of, shall be presumed to be dead in any case where * * * ~~his~~ the person's death shall come in question, unless proof be made that * * * he the person was alive within that time. Any property or estate recovered in any such case shall be restored to the person evicted or deprived thereof, if, in a subsequent action, it shall be proved that the person so presumed to be dead is living.

(2) (a) This subsection shall be known and may be cited as the "Zeb Hughes Law."

(b) A person who has undergone a catastrophic event that exposed the person to imminent peril or danger reasonably expected to result in loss of life and whose absence following the event is not explained satisfactorily after diligent search or inquiry is presumed to be dead if the sworn testimony of persons having firsthand knowledge of the event, including law enforcement officers, first responders, search and rescue personnel and volunteers, eyewitnesses and any other persons, along with any other evidence before the court, is uncontradicted and supports a determination that the death of the missing person occurred in the catastrophic event. The death is presumed to have occurred at the time of the catastrophic event.

(c) The hearing to review evidence of the catastrophic event shall be held no less than two (2) years after the catastrophic event. Loss of life shall be proven by clear and convincing evidence. A notice of the hearing shall be provided to the coroner, the district attorney and the sheriff of the county in which the catastrophic event occurred within thirty (30) days of the date set for the hearing in accordance with the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.

SECTION 4. The following shall be codified as Section 41-57-8, Mississippi Code of 1972:

41-57-8. (1) When a death is presumed to have occurred under Section 13-1-23, the State Registrar of Vital Statistics shall prepare a death certificate upon receipt of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction within the state. The court order shall include the following:

(a) The decedent's full legal name;

(b) The date of death, as determined by the evidence presented;

(d) The decedent's address at the time of death;

(e) The decedent's marital status at the time of death;

(f) The given name of the decedent's surviving spouse, if any;

(g) If known, information necessary to complete the medical portion of the death certificate, including the cause and manner of death. If the death occurred from a catastrophic event, the court order must include information on how and when the event occurred; and

(h) Such other information that may be required under rules and regulations promulgated by the State Board of Health.

(2) A death certificate issued pursuant to this section must identify the court that issued the order on which the death certificate is based and include the date of the court order.

(3) The record of a death registered under this section must be marked "presumptive."

SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.