A house RESOLUTION

to recognize the week of January 21-27, 2024, as National Coroner and Medicolegal Death Investigator Week in honor of the public service of the South Carolina Coroners Association, coroners, deputy coroners, and medicolegal death investigators.

Whereas, forty-six elected coroners and nearly three hundred deputy coroners or medicolegal death investigators provide services in South Carolina and are the cornerstone of death investigations in this State; and

Whereas, these professionals represent decedents and their families and communities to ensure that suspicious, violent, unattended, unexplained, and unexpected deaths are investigated; and

Whereas, coroners, deputy coroners, and medicolegal death investigators meet the needs of public health as exemplified during the COVID-19 pandemic and, in conjunction with the ever-changing fields of law enforcement and forensic science, impact the American population in a wide range of settings; and

Whereas, the South Carolina Coroners Association is the voice for coroners and their teams in this State and works to ensure every citizen is represented by a qualified and experienced medicolegal death investigator to provide knowledgeable, comprehensive, and compassionate investigation. Prevention initiatives, including those confronting the opioid epidemic, rely on the provision of accurate death statistics and information as provided by thorough investigations; and

Whereas, the South Carolina Coroners Association's goal is to attain the highest quality medicolegal death investigation standards; and

Whereas, with a renewed emphasis on ethical, qualified, independent, and thorough death investigations, medicolegal death investigators have established themselves as an indispensable component of the public health and law enforcement systems, effectively speaking for those who can no longer speak for themselves. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize the week of January 21-27, 2024, as National Coroner and Medicolegal Death Investigator Week in honor of the public service of the South Carolina Coroners Association, coroners, deputy coroners, and medicolegal death investigators.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the South Carolina Coroners Association.

----XX----