H. B. 4451
(By Delegates Compton, Hutchins, Susman, Houston,
Douglas, C. White and Caputo)
[Introduced February 9, 2000; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, four, six, seven,
eight, nine, ten, ten-a, eleven, twelve, thirteen and
fourteen, article twelve, chapter sixty-one of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, all relating to generally revising code provisions
relating to the chief medical examiner, county medical
examiners, coroners and postmortem examinations.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three, four, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, ten-
a, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen, article twelve, chapter
sixty-one of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 12. POSTMORTEM EXAMINATIONS.
§61-12-3. Office of medical examinations established; appointment,
duties, etc., of chief medical examiner; assistants
and employees.
The office of medical examinations is hereby established to
redesignated the office of the chief medical examiner. It shall be
operated under the control and supervision of the director of the
department division of health. Such The office shall be directed
by a chief medical examiner who shall be appointed by the director.
The chief medical examiner may employ assistants pathologists,
toxicologists, other forensic specialists, laboratory technicians,
regional medical examiners and other staff members as the director
may specify needed.
All persons employed by the chief medical examiner shall be
are responsible to him or her and may be discharged by him for any
reasonable cause. The chief medical examiner shall specify the
qualifications required for each position in the office of medical
examinations the chief medical examiner, and each position shall be
subject to such rules and regulations as the chief medical examiner
may prescribe.
The chief medical examiner shall be a physician licensed to practice medicine in West Virginia, who is a diplomate or eligible
for certification by the American board of pathology or the
American osteopathic board of pathology
of the American board of
pathology in forensic pathology, and who has had experience in
forensic medicine. The chief medical examiner shall be appointed
by the director of the division of health to serve a five-year term
unless sooner removed by the director for any reasonable cause.
The chief medical examiner is responsible to the director of the
division of health
in all matters except, the chief medical
examiner shall operate under independent authority for the purposes
of: (1) The performance of investigation into medicolegal deaths;
(2) the establishment of cause and manner of death; and (3) the
formulation of conclusions, opinions or testimony in judicial
proceedings. The chief medical examiner or designee shall be
continually available for consultation as necessary for carrying
out the functions of the office of the medical examiner. The chief
medical examiner has the authority to adopt rules pursuant to: (i)
The proper conduct of medical examinations into the cause of death;
(ii) the proper methods and procedures for postmortem inquiries
conducted by county medical examiners and coroners pursuant to
state statues; (iii) the examination of substances taken from human remains in order to determine the cause and manner of death; (iv)
the training and certification of county medical examiners and
coroners; and (v) the creation of specific forms for record books
and official papers which are necessary to the function of the
office of the chief medical examiner.
The chief medical examiner, or his or her designee, has the
authority to order or conduct, or both, an autopsy in accordance
with state rules. The chief medical examiner, or his or her
designee, shall comply with a request to perform an autopsy by any
entity authorized to make a request for an autopsy by a provision
of this code.
The salary of the chief medical examiner and the salaries of
all assistants and employees of the office of chief medical
examinations examiner shall be fixed by the Legislature from funds
appropriated for that purpose. The chief medical examiner shall
take such the oath and provide such the bond as may be required by
law. Within the discretion of the department director, the chief
medical examiner and his or her assistants shall may lecture or
instruct in the field of legal medicine and other related subjects
to the West Virginia University or Marshall University School of
Medicine, the department of public safety state police, other law-enforcement agencies and other interested groups.
§61-12-4. Central office and laboratory.
The office of the chief medical examinations examiner shall
establish and maintain a central office and a laboratory having
adequate professional and technical personnel and medical and
scientific facilities for the performance of the duties imposed by
this article. The central laboratory and office shall be
maintained in connection with the facilities of the West Virginia
University School of Medicine, and the director is hereby empowered
to contract for the use of such facilities.
In order to secure adequate facilities required to meet the
duties imposed by this article, the chief medical examiner has the
authority to enter into agreements, subject to the approval of the
director, with other state agencies, public or private colleges or
universities, schools of medicine or hospitals for the use of
certain laboratories and other technical facilities or functions.
§61-12-6. Chief medical examiner may obtain additional services
and facilities.
Subject to the approval of the director, the chief medical
examiner may, in order to provide facilities for investigating the
cause of death as authorized in this article, employ and pay qualified pathologists and toxicologists to make autopsies and such
pathological and chemical studies and investigations as he may deem
or she considers necessary, in any counties or areas of the state,
and he or she may arrange for the use of existing laboratory
facilities for such those purposes whenever these are available.
The director may prepare a list of approved pathologists available
for this work in the several counties or sections of the state, and
Qualified pathologists must hold board certification or board
eligibility in forensic pathology. If such case qualified, the
chief medical examiner may call upon such pathologists where they
are available for services in case of need.
§61-12-7. Medical examiners.
The chief medical examiner shall appoint for each county in
the State a county medical examiner to serve for a term of three
years
under the supervision and direction of the chief medical
examiner or designee. A county medical examiner must be a person
of good standing who is learned in the science of medicine and
shall be certified in the practice of medicolegal death
investigation. The county medical examiner has the authority to
establish the fact of death, and to make investigations into all
persons deaths as described in sections eight and ten of this article, and shall record, or cause to have recorded findings of
that investigation using forms prescribed for that purpose in
timely fashion, for which a fee shall be paid pursuant to section
eight of this article. The county medical examiner may be removed
from office at any time by the chief medical examiner.
A medical
examiner shall turn over and deliver to his successor in office all
of the papers, reports and records of his said office. Medical
examiners shall be qualified physicians, licensed to practice
medicine in West Virginia.
Any vacancy in the office of county medical examiner shall be
filled by the chief medical examiner. One person may be appointed
to serve as county medical examiner for more than one county, and
the county medical examiner need not be a resident of the county
which he or she serves. When it becomes necessary because of
illness, absence, need, or personal interest for any reasonable
purpose, the chief medical examiner shall have has the power to
appoint any other qualified physician
person learned in the science
of medicine
in the county in which a death is to be investigated,
to act as assistant county medical examiner for such the county
for
a term of three years. The assistant county medical examiner has
the same power and duties as the county medical examiner and shall work under the direction and supervision of the chief medical
examiner or his or her designee.
The county medical examiner or assistant county medical
examiner shall be available at all times for on-call duties, and
shall be paid a fee for the duties, as directed by the chief
medical examiner, pursuant to this article.
The county medical examiner and assistant county medical
examiner have the authority to determine the cause and manner of
death, pursuant to section eight of this article, subject to the
supervision and direction of the chief medical examiner, or his or
her designee.
§61-12-8. Certain deaths to be reported to medical examiners;
failure to report deaths; investigations and
reports; authority of medical examiners to
administer oaths, etc., fees.
When any person shall die dies in this state from violence, or
by apparent suicide, or suddenly when in apparent good health, or
when unattended by a physician, or when an inmate of a public
institution, not hospitalized therein for organic disease, or from
some disease which might constitute a threat to public health or in
any suspicious, unusual or unnatural manner, the
chief medical examiner or his or her designee, or the county
medical examiner of
the county in which such the death occurs, or his or her designee,
shall be immediately notified by the physician in attendance, by
any law-enforcement officer having knowledge of such the death or
by the funeral director or by any other person present. Any
physician or law-enforcement officer, funeral director or embalmer
who willfully fails to comply with this section shall be is guilty
of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not less than
fifty one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars. Upon
receipt of such the notice, the chief medical examiner, or designee
shall take charge of the dead body make inquiries regarding the
cause and manner of death, reduce his findings to writing, and
promptly make a full report thereof to the chief medical examiner
on forms prescribed for such purpose, retaining one copy of such
report for his own office records, and that of the chief medical
examiner and should deliver another copy thereof to the prosecuting
attorney of such county, and to any attorney of record in any
criminal proceedings or civil action wherein the cause of death is
an issue. The medical examiner may administer oaths and
affirmations, and take affidavits and make examinations as to any
matter within the jurisdiction of his office. The medical examiner shall take possession of and any objects or articles which, in his
opinion, may be useful in establishing the cause of death, and
deliver them to the prosecuting attorney of such county. For each
investigation under this section, including the making of the
required reports, the medical examiner shall receive such fee as
may be determined by the commission on postmortem examinations,
which fee shall be paid by the state
investigative agency
possessing jurisdiction in the death. For the purpose of any
investigation into the cause and manner of death, as required by
this article and where treatment, therapeutic or otherwise, has
been provided to the decedent who is the subject of the
investigation, upon written request of the chief medical examiner
or his or her designee, or the county medical examiner, any
individual, partnership, association, corporation, institution or
governmental entity established within the state of West Virginia
which has rendered treatment shall promptly provide the chief
medical examiner or his or her designee or the county medical
examiner with all records pertaining to the decedent and the
treatment rendered when the person is acting in the course of
lawful inquiry. This language does not preclude the chief medical
examiner or his or her designee from directly inspecting or obtaining any medical records pertaining to a case under his or her
jurisdiction. Where the records become incorporated into the files
of the county medical examiner or the office of the chief medical
examiner, they shall be held as confidential and not liable to
subpoena directed to the office of the chief medical examiner. The
county medical examiner shall make inquiries regarding the cause
and manner of death, reduce his or her findings to writing and
promptly make a full report to the chief medical examiner or his or
her designee, on forms prescribed for the purpose, retaining one
copy of the report for his or her own office records and that of
the chief medical examiner and deliver another copy to the
prosecuting attorney of the county. Any record of findings made by
the county medical examiner or any record to be made under the
direction of the chief medical examiner shall be held as
confidential and may be released only to parties currently engaged
in criminal or civil litigation, except as allowed by law and state
and federal guidelines governing confidentiality of criminal
investigations. A reasonable fee, established by the chief medical
examiner
may be charged for the delivery of the records and reports
as allowed by law to the parties and shall be paid to the office of
the chief medical examiner. The county medical examiner shall receive a fee for each investigation described under this section,
including the making of required reports, as may be determined by
the chief medical examiner, which fee shall be paid by the state of
West Virginia.
§61-12-9. Permits required for cremation; fee.
It shall be is the duty of any person cremating, or causing or
requesting the cremation of, the body of any dead person who died
in this state, to secure a permit for such the cremation from the
chief medical examiner, or from the county medical examiner of the
county wherein such in which the death occurred, and any such
person or persons who shall wilfully fail to secure such the permit
from for cremation, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
less than twenty two hundred dollars. and not more than five
hundred dollars such The permit for cremation shall be acted upon
issued by the chief medical examiner, or designee, or the county
medical examiner as promptly as possible or coroner
after review of
the circumstances of the death as described by review of the death
certificate.
A reasonable fee of five dollars
as determined by the
chief medical examiner
shall be paid to any county medical examiner
for his the issuance of a permit for cremation. such The fee to
shall be paid by the person requesting such the permit.
§61-12-10. When autopsies made and by whom performed; reports;
records of deaths investigated; copies of records
and information.
If in the opinion of the chief medical examiner, or of the
county medical examiner of the county in which the death in
question occurred, it is advisable and in the public interest that
an autopsy be made, or if an autopsy be is requested by either the
prosecuting attorney or the judge of the circuit court or other
court of record having criminal jurisdiction in such the county,
such an autopsy shall be made by the chief medical examiner or
designee, by a member of his or her staff, or by such a competent
pathologist who is a diplomate or eligible for certification by the
American board of pathology in the speciality of forensic
pathology, as the chief medical examiner shall designate designates
and employ employs pursuant to the provisions of this article. The
chief medical examiner may employ any county medical examiner who
is a qualified pathologist pathologist who holds board
certification or board eligibility in forensic pathology to make
such the autopsies, and the fees to be paid hereunder for autopsies
hereunder shall be performed under this section are in addition to
the fee provided for investigations and made pursuant to section eight of this article. A full record and report of the findings
developed by the autopsy shall be filed with the office of the
chief medical examinations examiner by such the person making the
autopsy.
Within the discretion of the chief medical examiner, or of the
person making such the autopsy, or if requested by the prosecuting
attorney of such the county, or of the county where any injury
contributing to or causing the death was sustained, a copy of such
the report of the autopsy shall be furnished such the prosecuting
attorney.
The office of the chief medical examinations examiner shall
keep full, complete and properly indexed records of all deaths
investigated, containing all relevant information concerning the
death, and the autopsy report if such be it is made. Any
prosecuting attorney or law-enforcement officer may secure copies
of such the records or information necessary to him or her for the
performance of his or her official duties. Copies of such the
records or information shall be furnished, upon request, to any
party court of law, or to the parties named in the records to whom
the cause of death is a material issue, except where civil
interests conflict with criminal litigation which must take precedence. Any person performing an autopsy pursuant to the
authority of this section shall be is empowered to keep and retain,
for and on behalf of the chief medical examiner, any tissue from
the body upon which the autopsy was performed which may be
necessary for further study or consideration.
In cases of the death of any infant in the state of West
Virginia where sudden infant death syndrome is the suspected cause
of death and the chief medical examiner or the medical examiner of
the county in which the death in question occurred considers it
advisable to perform an autopsy, it is the duty of the chief
medical examiner or the medical examiner of the county in which the
death occurred to notify at least one parent or legal guardian in
written form of the purpose for the autopsy examination and to
provide to the parents or legal guardian(s) a report of the
findings of the autopsy examination within thirty days of
completion of such examination. the director and to inform the
director of all necessary information that should be given to the
parents.
§61-12-10a. Costs of transportation of bodies; when state will
pay; amount of payment.
Whenever an autopsy examination of a body is ordered pursuant to section eight or ten of this article and the body of the
deceased transported to the central laboratory or other autopsy
center of the office of medical examinations examination, the
reasonable cost of the transportation, shall be paid by the state
out of funds appropriated to or for the use of the office of the
chief medical examinations examiner. Transportation at state
expense shall be provided from the place where the body is being
kept at the time the autopsy examination is ordered to the central
laboratory or autopsy center other place of examination; and, upon
completion of the autopsy examination, to the place designated by
the person entitled to possession of the body. Provided, That If
the body is to be returned a greater distance than it was taken for
the autopsy examination, the state shall is only be obligated for
the cost of return of the body equal to or less than that incurred
to take the body for the autopsy examination. The payment shall be
of a reasonable amount set by the office of the chief medical
examinations examiner, including, but not limited to, payment of
any part of the total cost as the office of the chief medical
examinations shall allow examiner allows.
§61-12-11. Exhumation; when ordered.
If, in any case of sudden, violent or suspicious death, the body is buried without any investigation by the chief medical
examiner, or by a county medical examiner or coroner, it shall be
is the duty of the medical examiner or coroner, upon being advised
of such the fact, to notify the prosecuting attorney of such the
county, who shall communicate the same information to the judge of
the circuit court or other court of record having jurisdiction in
such the county, and such the judge may order that the body be
exhumed and an autopsy performed thereon on the body, as provided
in section ten of this article. and The pertinent facts disclosed
by the autopsy shall be communicated to the prosecuting attorney of
such the county.
§61-12-12. Facilities and services available to medical examiners.
Pursuant to proper rules and regulations as may hereafter be
promulgated by the chief medical examiner properly promulgated, the
facilities of the office of the chief medical examinations examiner
and its laboratory, and the services of its professional staff,
shall be made available to the county medical examiners and
coroners in their investigations under the provisions of section
eight of this article, and to the persons conducting autopsies
under the provisions of section ten of this article.
§61-12-13. Reports and records received as evidence; copies.
Reports of investigations and autopsies, and the records
thereof of the investigations and autopsies, on file in the office
of the chief medical examinations examiner or in the office of any
medical examiner, shall be received as evidence in any court or
other proceeding, and copies of records, photographs, laboratory
findings and records on file in the office of the chief medical
examinations examiner or in the office of any medical examiner,
when duly attested by the chief medical examiner or by the county
medical examiner or coroner in whose office the same in which they
are filed, shall be received as evidence in any court or other
proceeding for any purpose for which the original could be received
without any proof of the official character of the person whose
name is signed thereto unless objected to by counsel, Provided,
however, except that statements of witnesses or other persons and
conclusions upon extraneous matters are not hereby made admissible
by this provision.
§61-12-14. County coroners; appointment, oath, etc.; duties; fees.
It shall be is the duty of the county commission of every
county, from time to time, to appoint a coroner for such the
county, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of such the
commission and shall take the oath of office prescribed for other county officers. The county coroners shall hereafter perform such
duties as may be assigned to them under the rules and regulations
promulgated by the board of health and chief medical examiner and
possess all authority and perform all duties assigned to county
medical examiners provided in section eight of this article.
Coroners shall be paid such fees or amounts for such their services
as may be fixed by the chief medical examiner.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to generally revise and
update Code provisions relating to the Chief Medical Examiner,
county medical examiners, coroners and postmortem examinations.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.