MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2000 Regular Session

To: County Affairs

By: Representatives Broomfield, Huddleston

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 19-21-103 AND 41-61-57, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REVISE THE MINIMUM EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS OF A CORONER AND COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER INVESTIGATOR; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 19-21-103, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

19-21-103. (1) Beginning with the 2003 general election and thereafter, each candidate for the elected office of coroner shall, as a minimum, possess a bachelor's degree for a health care profession or a related field of science, be twenty-one (21) years of age or older, and be a qualified elector of the county in which elected.

(2) The minimum education requirements of subsection (1) of this section and subsection (1) of Section 41-61-57 shall not apply to any coroner holding office on July 1, 1986, who is reelected in the 1987 general election and thereafter, as long as such coroner maintains continuous active service as county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator. However, all other portions of subsection (1) of Section 41-61-57 shall apply to such coroners.

SECTION 2. Section 41-61-57, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

41-61-57. (1) There are hereby created the positions of county medical examiners and county medical examiner investigators, to be established as herein provided through successful completion of the death investigation training school provided for in subsection (5) of this section. Each county medical examiner (CME) shall be a doctor of medicine (M.D.) or osteopathic medicine (D.O.) licensed in the State of Mississippi. Each county medical examiner investigator (CMEI) shall be a nonphysician who shall, as a minimum, possess a high school graduation diploma or its equivalent. Extra consideration for the CMEI position may be given for experience and/or training in health-related fields and medicolegal death investigations. However, any person who first becomes a CMEI after January 1, 2004, shall as a minimum possess a bachelor's degree for a health care profession or a related field of science.

(2) Each coroner elected in the 1987 general election and thereafter, upon successful completion of the death investigation training school provided for in subsection (5) of this section, shall be recognized as a county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator, according to the qualifications set out in subsection (1) of this section, and shall be designated the chief for the county in which he was elected. If the elected or appointed coroner fails to successfully complete the death investigation training school, and thus is unable to take the oath of office, as provided in Section 19-21-105, there shall promptly be appointed a coroner pro tempore in the manner prescribed by Section 9-1-27, and that person shall be designated the chief county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator until the time of the next death investigation training school, which he must successfully complete or be removed from office. Any elected coroner who has failed to successfully complete the death investigation training school may attend any subsequent death investigation training school conducted during the term for which he was elected, and upon the successful completion thereof, he shall become the chief CME or CMEI for the county in which he was elected. The coroner pro tempore then shall become a deputy CME or CMEI, provided he has successfully completed the death investigation training school. Notwithstanding anything in this section to the contrary, each coroner holding office on July 1, 1986, shall be the chief CME or CMEI for the county in which he was elected through the expiration of his term in January 1988 without having to attend the death investigation training school; however, he may voluntarily attend any such school conducted prior to that time.

(3) There shall be at least one (1) county medical examiner and/or county medical examiner investigator for each county, and one (1) county medical examiner or county medical examiner investigator shall be designated as the chief for each county, except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section. Any county may have deputy county medical examiners or deputy county medical examiner investigators as deemed necessary who shall be appointed jointly by the board of supervisors and the CME or CMEI. However, when the population of a county reaches a total of twenty thousand (20,000) or greater, there shall be one or more officially appointed deputies. Deputies shall be subject to the same qualifications, training and certification requirements, and shall possess the same authority and discharge the same duties, as other county medical examiners or county medical examiner investigators, and shall receive fees and expenses as provided in Sections 41-61-69 and 41-61-75. Any CME or CMEI may be removed by the State Medical Examiner prior to the expiration of his term as CME or CMEI for inefficiency, or other good cause, after written notice and a hearing in compliance with due process law.

(4) One (1) person may serve as the chief CME or CMEI for two (2) or more adjacent counties when that person consents and the boards of supervisors of each county involved and the State Medical Examiner consent in writing. Each respective county involved shall be responsible for payment for the services given to that county by the chief CME or CMEI.

(5) Chief and deputy CME's and CMEI's shall attend the death investigation training school provided by the Mississippi Crime Laboratory and the State Medical Examiner, and shall successfully complete subsequent testing on the subject material by the State Medical Examiner at least once every four (4) years. Room, board and transportation expenses for attending the school shall be borne by the county in which the CME or CMEI is serving. In addition to the above training, the individual shall receive at least twenty-four (24) hours annually of continuing education as prescribed and certified by the State Medical Examiner. If the above requirements for training or continuing education are not met, the individual immediately shall be disqualified and removed from office as CME and/or CMEI. Reapplication for the office may be made the following year after removal.

SECTION 3. The Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this act, immediately upon approval by the Governor, or upon approval by the Legislature subsequent to a veto, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2000 or the date it is effectuated under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended, which ever is the later date.