HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

869

THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 coroner if the county does not have a medical examiner.  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.  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 10.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 11.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

 

 


 

Report Title:

Medical Examiners; County Coroners

 

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.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.