Citations Affected: IC 36-2-14.
Synopsis: Coroner issues. Requires a coroner to file a certificate of
death with a county health department within 72 hours after the
completion of a death investigation. Removes a provision allowing a
coroner to employ the services of the medical examiner system. Makes
knowingly or intentionally failing to notify a coroner or law
enforcement agency of the discovery of a body of a person who died
from violence or in an apparently suspicious, unusual, or unnatural
manner a Class A misdemeanor. (Under current law it is a Class B
infraction.) Makes it a Class D felony for a person, without the
permission of a coroner or a law enforcement officer, to knowingly or
intentionally alter the scene of death of a person who has died from
violence or in an apparently suspicious, unusual, or unnatural manner.
(Current law provides that it is a Class D felony if a person moves or
transports the body.) Defines "autopsy" for purposes of the law
requiring a coroner who performs an autopsy to bill the county in
which the incident causing the death of the autopsy subject occurred.
Requires a coroner to follow the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
concerning organ and tissue procurement. Repeals provisions: (1)
authorizing a coroner to issue a warrant for the arrest of an individual
whom the coroner is charging with a felony; and (2) requiring a coroner
or a coroner's representative to attend meetings of the commission on
forensic sciences when invited.
Effective: July 1, 2007.
January 23, 2007, read first time and referred to Committee on Courts and Criminal Code.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
reasonable certainty within seventy-two (72) hours, the coroner
shall file with the person in charge of interment a coroner's
certificate of death, with the cause of death designated as
"deferred pending further action". As soon as he determines the
cause of death, the coroner shall file a supplemental report
indicating his exact findings with the local health officer having
jurisdiction, who shall make it part of his official records. a
certificate of death with the county health department, or if
applicable, a multiple county health department of the county
in which the individual died within seventy-two (72) hours
after the completion of the death investigation;
(2) shall complete the certificate of death using all verifiable
information establishing the time and date of death; and
(3) may file a pending investigation certificate of death before
completing the certificate of death, if necessary.
(c) If this section applies, the body and the scene of death may not
be disturbed until the coroner has photographed them in the manner
that most fully discloses how the person died. However, a coroner or
law enforcement officer may order a body to be moved before
photographs are taken if the position or location of the body unduly
interferes with activities carried on where the body is found, but the
body may not be moved from the immediate area and must be moved
without substantially destroying or altering the evidence present.
(d) When acting under this section, if the coroner considers it
necessary to have an autopsy performed, is required to perform an
autopsy under subsection (f), or is requested by the prosecuting
attorney of the county to perform an autopsy, the coroner shall employ
a physician:
(1) certified by the American board of pathology; or
(2) holding an unlimited license to practice medicine in Indiana
and acting under the direction of a physician certified by the
American board of pathology;
to perform the autopsy. The physician performing the autopsy shall be
paid a fee of at least fifty dollars ($50) from the county treasury. A
coroner may employ the services of the medical examiner system,
provided for in IC 4-23-6-6, when an autopsy is required, as long as
this subsection is met.
(e) If:
(1) at the request of:
(A) the decedent's spouse;
(B) a child of the decedent, if the decedent does not have a
spouse;
occurred in another Indiana county; and
(2) is the subject of an autopsy performed under the authority and
duties of the county coroner of the county where the death
occurred;
the county coroner shall bill the county in which the incident occurred
for the cost of the autopsy, including the physician fee under section
6(d) of this chapter.
(b) (c) Except as provided in subsection (a) (b) and IC 4-24-4-1,
payment for the costs of an autopsy requested by a party other than the:
(1) county prosecutor; or
(2) county coroner;
of the county in which the individual died must be made by the party
requesting the autopsy.
(c) (d) This section does not preclude the coroner of a county in
which a death occurs from attempting to recover autopsy costs from the
jurisdiction outside Indiana where the incident that caused the death
occurred.