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Am. H. B. No. 471 As Reported by the House State Government and Elections CommitteeAs Reported by the House State Government and Elections Committee
127th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2007-2008 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Gibbs, Combs
A BILL
To amend sections 313.05, 313.10, and 313.16,
and to
enact section 313.211 of the Revised Code
to
change certain powers and duties of coroners and
to specify that certain records of a decedent
relating to the criminal investigation of the
decedent's death are not public records.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 313.05, 313.10, and 313.16
be
amended and section 313.211 of the Revised Code be enacted to
read as follows:
Sec. 313.05. (A)(1) The coroner may appoint, in writing,
deputy
coroners, who shall be licensed physicians of good standing
in
their profession, one of whom may be designated as the chief
deputy coroner. The coroner also may appoint pathologists as
deputy coroners, who may perform autopsies, make
pathological and
chemical examinations, and perform other duties
as directed by the
coroner or recommended by the prosecuting
attorney. The coroner
may appoint any necessary technicians.
The coroner may contract for the services of deputy coroners
to aid the coroner in the execution of the coroner's powers and
duties. Contracts for the services of deputy coroners are exempt
from any competitive bidding requirements of the Revised Code.
(2) The coroner may appoint, in writing, one or more
secretaries and an official stenographer, who shall record the
testimony of witnesses in attendance upon the coroner's inquest,
preserve and file properly indexed records of all official
reports, acts, and communications of the office, and perform
other
services as required by the coroner.
(3) The coroner may appoint clerks,
stenographers,
custodians, and investigators and shall define
their duties.
(4) For the performance of their duties, deputy coroners,
pathologists serving as deputy coroners, and technicians,
stenographers, secretaries, clerks, custodians, and
investigators
shall receive salaries fixed by the coroner and
payable from the
county treasury upon the warrant of the county
auditor. The
compensation shall not exceed, in the aggregate,
the amount fixed
by the board of county commissioners for the
coroner's office.
(B) A coroner may appoint, as a deputy coroner, as a
pathologist serving as a deputy coroner, or as a technician,
stenographer, secretary, clerk, custodian, investigator, or other
employee a
person who is an associate of, or who is employed by,
the coroner or a deputy
coroner in the private practice of
medicine in a partnership, professional
association, or other
medical business arrangement. A coroner may appoint, as an
investigator, a deputy sheriff within the county or a law
enforcement
officer of a political subdivision located within the
county.
Sec. 313.10. (A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, the records of the coroner who has jurisdiction over the
case, including, but not limited
to, the detailed descriptions of
the observations written during
the progress of an autopsy and
the conclusions drawn from those
observations filed in the office
of the coroner under division (A)
of section 313.13 of the
Revised Code, made personally by
the
coroner or by anyone acting
under the coroner's direction or
supervision, are
public records.
Those records, or
transcripts or
photostatic copies of them,
certified by
the coroner shall be
received as evidence in any
criminal or civil action or proceeding
in a court in
this state,
as to the facts contained in those
records. The coroner of the
county where the death was pronounced shall be
responsible for
the release of all public records relating to that
death.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (D) or (E) of
this section, the following records in a coroner's office that has
jurisdiction over the case are not
public records:
(a)
Preliminary autopsy and investigative notes and findings
made by the coroner or by anyone acting under the coroner's
direction or supervision;
(b) Photographs of a decedent made by the coroner or by
anyone acting under the coroner's direction or supervision;
(d) Medical and psychiatric records provided to the coroner,
a deputy coroner, or a representative of the coroner or a deputy
coroner under section 313.091 of the Revised Code;
(e) Records of a deceased individual that are confidential
law enforcement investigatory records as defined in section 149.43
of the Revised Code;
(f) Laboratory reports generated from the analysis of
physical evidence by the coroner's laboratory that is discoverable
under Criminal Rule 16.
(3)
In the coroner's discretion, photographs of a decedent
may be used for medical, legal, or educational purposes.
(B) All
records in the coroner's office that has
jurisdiction over the case that are public
records are open to
inspection by the public,
and any person may
receive a copy of
any such record or part
of it upon demand in
writing, accompanied
by payment of a record retrieval and copying
fee, at the rate of
twenty-five cents per page or a minimum fee of
one
dollar.
(C)(1) The coroner who has jurisdiction over the case shall
provide a copy of the full and
complete records of the coroner
with respect to a decedent to a
person who makes a written
request as the next of kin of the
decedent. The following persons
may make a request pursuant to
this division as the next of kin
of a decedent:
(a) The surviving spouse of the decedent;
(b) If there is no surviving spouse, or if the surviving
spouse has died without having made a request pursuant to this
division, any child of the decedent over eighteen years of age,
with each child over eighteen years of age having an independent
right to make a request pursuant to this division;
(c) If there is no surviving spouse or child over eighteen
years of age, or if the surviving spouse and all children over
eighteen years of age have died without having made a request
pursuant to this division, the parents of the decedent, with each
parent having an independent right to make a request pursuant to
this division;
(d) If there is no surviving spouse, child over eighteen
years of age, or parents of the decedent, or if all have died
without having made a request pursuant to this division, the
brothers and sisters of the decedent, whether of the whole or the
half blood, with each having an independent right to make a
request pursuant to this division.
(2) If there is no surviving person who may make a written
request as next of kin for a copy of the full and complete records
of the coroner pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, or if
all next of kin of the decedent have died without having made a
request pursuant to that division, the coroner shall provide a
copy of the full and complete records of the coroner with respect
to a decedent to the representative of the estate of the decedent
who is the subject of the records upon written request made by the
representative.
(D) A journalist may submit to the coroner who has
jurisdiction over the case a written request
to view preliminary
autopsy and investigative notes and findings,
suicide notes, or
photographs of the decedent made by the coroner
or by anyone
acting under the coroner's discretion or supervision.
The request
shall include the journalist's name and title and the
name and
address of the journalist's employer and state that the
granting
of the request would be in the best interest of the
public. If a
journalist submits a written request to the coroner
to view the
records described in this division, the coroner shall
grant the
journalist's request. The journalist shall not copy the
preliminary autopsy and investigative notes and findings, suicide
notes, or photographs of the decedent.
(E)(1) An insurer may submit to the coroner who has
jurisdiction over the case a written request
to obtain a copy of
the full and complete records of the coroner
with respect to a
deceased person. The request shall include the
name of the
deceased person, the type of policy to which the
written request
relates, and the name and address of the insurer.
(2) If an insurer submits a written request to the coroner to
obtain a copy of records pursuant to division (E)(1) of this
section, the coroner shall grant that request.
(3) Upon the granting of a written request to obtain a copy
of records by the coroner, the insurer may utilize the records for
the following purposes:
(a) To investigate any first party claim or third party claim
asserted under a policy of insurance issued by the insurer that
arises from the death of the deceased person;
(b) To determine coverage for any first party claim or third
party claim asserted under a policy of insurance issued by the
insurer that arises from the death of the deceased person;
(c) To determine the insurer's liability for any first party
claim or third party claim asserted under a policy of insurance
issued by the insurer that arises from the death of the deceased
person.
(4) Prior to the delivery of records that are the subject of
a request made pursuant to division (E)(1) of this section, the
coroner may require the insurer who submitted the written request
for the records to provide a payment to the coroner of a record
retrieval and copying fee at the rate of twenty-five cents per
page or a minimum fee of one dollar.
(5) Any records produced by the coroner in response to a
written request under division (E)(1) of this section shall remain
in the care, custody, and control of the insurer and its employees
or representatives at all times. The insurer may not release or
disclose the records to any other person unless any of the
following apply:
(a) The release of the records is reasonably necessary to
further a purpose described in division (E)(3) of this section.
(b) A court of competent jurisdiction orders the insurer to
produce the records.
(c) The insurer is required to produce the records in
response to a civil or criminal subpoena.
(d) The insurer is responding to a request for the records
from a law enforcement agency, the department of insurance or a
department of insurance from another state, or another
governmental authority.
(F) The coroner may contact the decedent's next of kin to
inform the next of kin that a journalist or an insurer has
submitted a written request pursuant to division (D) or (E) of
this section and whether the coroner has granted the journalist's
or the insurer's request.
(G) As used in this section:
(1) "Full and complete records of the coroner" includes, but
is not limited to, the following:
(a) The detailed descriptions of the observations written by
the coroner or by anyone acting under the coroner's direction or
supervision during the progress of an autopsy and the conclusions
drawn from those observations that are filed in the office of the
coroner under division (A) of section 313.13 of the Revised Code;
(b) Preliminary autopsy and investigative notes and findings
made by the coroner or by anyone acting under the coroner's
direction or supervision;
(c) Photographs of a decedent made by the coroner or by
anyone acting under the coroner's direction or supervision;
(e) Medical and psychiatric records provided to the coroner,
a deputy coroner, or a representative of the coroner or a deputy
coroner under section 313.091 of the Revised Code;
(f) Records of a deceased individual that are confidential
law enforcement investigatory records as defined in section 149.43
of the Revised Code;
(g) Laboratory reports generated from the analysis of
physical evidence by the coroner's laboratory that is discoverable
under Criminal Rule 16.
(2) "Insurer" has the same meaning as in section 3901.07 of
the Revised Code.
(3) "Journalist" has the same meaning as in section 149.43 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 313.16. In counties where no coroner's laboratory has
been established
or where the coroner's laboratory does not have
the equipment or personnel to
follow the protocol established by
rule of the public health council adopted
under section 313.122 of
the Revised Code, the coroner may request a coroner
of a county in
which such a laboratory is established or that has a laboratory
able to follow the public health council's protocol to perform
necessary
laboratory examinations, the cost of which shall be no
greater than the actual
value of the services of technicians and
the materials used in performing such
examination. Money derived
from the fees paid for these examinations shall be
kept in a
special fund, for the use of the coroner's laboratory, from which
fund replacements can be made. Such funds shall be used to
purchase necessary
supplies and equipment for the laboratory and
to pay any associated costs incurred in the administration of this
section at the coroner's discretion.
Sec. 313.211. The coroner may secure, catalog, record, and,
with the approval of the prosecuting attorney, destroy any
dangerous drugs found at the scene of an
investigation the
coroner conducts, if the dangerous drugs
are no longer needed for
investigative or scientific purposes.
Section 2. That existing sections 313.05, 313.10, and 313.16
of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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