Bill Text: MS HB1422 | 2026 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Coroner qualifications; revise minimum education requirement.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2026-02-03 - Died In Committee [HB1422 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2026-HB1422-Introduced.html

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MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2026 Regular Session

To: Public Health and Human Services

By: Representative Karriem

House Bill 1422

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 19-21-103, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED TO SERVE AS COUNTY CORONER BY REQUIRING THAT A PERSON SEEKING THE OFFICE OF CORONER TO  ATTAIN A COLLEGE DEGREE OR HIGHER; TO PROVIDE A CERTAIN EXCEPTION REGARDING THE ATTAINMENT OF SUCH COLLEGE DEGREE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

     SECTION 1.  Section 19-21-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

     19-21-103.  (1)  * * *  Beginning with the 1987 general election and thereafter, each candidate for the elected office of coroner shall, as a minimum, possess a high school graduation diploma or its equivalent, be twenty‑one (21) years of age or older, and be a qualified elector of the county in which elected.

(2)  The minimum education requirements of subsection (1) of this section and subsection (1) of Section 41‑61‑57 shall not apply to any coroner holding office on July 1, 1986, who is reelected in the 1987 general election and thereafter, as long as such coroner maintains continuous active service as county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator.  However, all other portions of subsection (1) of Section 41‑61‑57 shall apply to such coroners. Every person elected or appointed to the Office of Coroner shall be a qualified elector of the county and shall have resided in the county for a period of at least two (2) years immediately preceding the date of election or appointment.

     (2)  In addition to the requirements of subsection (1) of this section, each person elected or appointed to the Office of Coroner on or after July 1, 2027, shall possess a college degree from an accredited institution of higher learning.

     (3)  The degree required under subsection (2) of this section shall be a bachelor's degree or higher in medicine, nursing, forensic science, criminal justice, biology, or a related discipline.

     (4)  Any person serving as coroner on July 1, 2027, who does not meet the educational requirement set forth in subsection (2) of this section, may continue to serve and seek reelection without meeting the degree requirement.  This subsection shall apply only to continuous service.

     (5)  The provisions of this section shall be enforced by the appropriate county election officials and governing authorities.

     SECTION 2.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2026.

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