Citations Affected: IC 16-37; IC 36-2.
Synopsis: Coroners. Increases the coroners continuing education fee
to $1.75 and raises the fee by $0.25 in 2013 and every five years
thereafter. Provides that a coroner shall 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. Changes knowingly or
intentionally failing to notify a coroner or law enforcement agency of
the discovery of the body of a person who died from violence or in an
apparently suspicious, unusual, or unnatural manner from a Class B
infraction to a Class A misdemeanor if it is done with intent to hinder
a criminal investigation. Makes it a Class D felony for a person, with
intent to hinder a criminal investigation and 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 the coroner
of one county to bill another county for the costs of an autopsy under
certain circumstances. Requires a coroner to follow the Uniform
Anatomical Gift Act concerning organ and tissue procurement. Repeals
provisions: (1) allowing 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 Corrections, Criminal, and
Civil Matters.
February 22, 2007, amended, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning local
government.
of the person's family in connection with:
(A) the person's service in the armed forces of the United
States; or
(B) a death pension or disability pension of a person who is
serving or has served in the armed forces of the United States.
(2) To establish or to verify the age of a child in school who
desires to secure a work permit.
(d) The coroners continuing education fee is:
(1) one dollar and seventy-five cents ($1.75) after June 30,
2007, and before July 1, 2013;
(2) two dollars ($2) after June 30, 2013, and before July 1,
2018;
(3) two dollars and twenty-five cents ($2.25) after June 30,
2018, and before July 1, 2023;
(4) two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) after June 30, 2023, and
before July 1, 2028;
(5) two dollars and seventy-five cents ($2.75) after June 30,
2028, and before July 1, 2033;
(6) three dollars ($3) after June 30, 2033, and before July 1,
2038;
(7) three dollars and twenty-cents ($3.25) after June 30, 2038,
and before July 1, 2043; and
(8) three dollars and fifty cents ($3.50) after June 30, 2043.
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 utilizing 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;
(C) a parent of the decedent, if the decedent does not have a
spouse or children;
(D) a brother or sister of the decedent, if the decedent does not
have a spouse, children, or parents; or
(E) a grandparent of the decedent, if the decedent does not
have a spouse, children, parents, brothers, or sisters;
(2) in any death, where two (2) or more witnesses who
corroborate the circumstances surrounding death are present; and
(3) two (2) physicians who are licensed to practice medicine in
the state and who have made separate examinations of the
decedent certify the same cause of death in an affidavit within
twenty-four (24) hours after death;
an autopsy need not be performed. The affidavits shall be filed with the
circuit court clerk.
(f) A county coroner may not certify the cause of death in the case
of the sudden and unexpected death of a child who is at least one (1)
week old and not more than three (3) years old unless an autopsy is
performed at county expense. However, a coroner may certify the cause
of death of a child described in this subsection without the performance
of an autopsy if subsection (e) applies to the death of the child.
an Indiana resident:
(1) dies in an Indiana county as a result of an incident that
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.