Bill Text: MS SB3017 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Medical examiners; must be certified forensic pathologists.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2010-02-02 - Died In Committee [SB3017 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2010-SB3017-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2010 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Welfare
By: Senator(s) Tollison
Senate Bill 3017
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-61-77, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY QUALIFICATIONS OF PATHOLOGISTS ABLE TO PERFORM POSTMORTEM EXAMINATIONS AND AUTOPSIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-61-77, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-61-77. (1) The Department of Public Safety shall establish and maintain a central office for the Mississippi Crime Laboratory and the State Medical Examiner with appropriate facilities and personnel for postmortem medicolegal examinations. District offices, with appropriate facilities and personnel, may also be established and maintained if considered necessary by the department for the proper management of postmortem examinations.
The facilities of the central and district offices and their staff services may be available to the medical examiners and designated pathologists in their investigations.
(2) In order to provide proper facilities for investigating deaths as authorized in Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79, the State Medical Examiner may arrange for the use of existing public or private laboratory facilities. The State Medical Examiner may contract with qualified persons to perform or to provide support services for autopsies, studies and investigations not inconsistent with other applicable laws. Such laboratory facilities may be located at the University of Mississippi Medical Center or any other suitable location. The State Medical Examiner may also serve as a member of the faculty at the University of Mississippi Medical Center and other institutions of higher learning. He shall be authorized to employ, with the approval of the Commissioner of Public Safety, such additional scientific, technical, administrative and clerical assistants as are necessary for performance of his duties. Such employees in the office of the State Medical Examiner shall be subject to the rules, regulations and policies of the state personnel system in their employment.
(3) The State Medical Examiner shall be authorized to appoint and/or employ qualified pathologists as additional associate and assistant state medical examiners as are necessary to carry out the duties of his office. The associate and assistant state medical examiners shall be licensed to practice medicine in Mississippi and, insofar as practicable, shall be trained in the field of forensic pathology. The State Medical Examiner may delegate specific duties to competent and qualified medical examiners within the scope of the express authority granted to him by law or regulation. Employees of the office of the State Medical Examiner shall have the authority to enter any political subdivisions of this state for the purpose of carrying out medical investigations.
(4) The board of supervisors of any two (2) or more adjacent counties may enter into written agreements with one another, in accordance with Section 17-13-1 et seq., to establish regional medical examiner districts for the purposes of providing and coordinating medical examiner services on a regional basis, establishing central forensic facilities for the counties involved, and employing or contracting with one or more pathologists certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology and designated by the State Medical Examiner or the Department of Public Safety to serve as medical examiners of the district, who will perform postmortem examinations and autopsies for the counties involved. From and after July 1, 2010, all medical examiners must be qualified as required under this subsection without regard to the date of hire. Any powers which may be exercised under this chapter by an individual county, county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator may be exercised jointly with any other county or with the county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator of such other county, in accordance with the terms of the agreement between the counties involved. Any county entering into such an agreement shall be authorized to expend any funds necessary to carry out the purposes of such agreement. Any municipality located within any such district is hereby authorized and empowered to contribute funds to such district. For any such district established, the counties involved shall attempt to coordinate the operation of the district and any district facilities with the operation of any district office or offices established by the State Medical Examiner under subsection (1) of this section which include such counties. The medical examiners authorized in this subsection shall have the same authority within a medical examiner district and the counties served by such district as does the State Medical Examiner.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2010.
