MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Public Health and Human Services
By: Representative Dixon
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 41-61-55, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE THE STATE MEDICAL EXAMINER TO BE A RESIDENT OF MISSISSIPPI; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 41-61-55, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
41-61-55. (1) There is * * * created the position of State Medical
Examiner, to be established as * * * in this chapter under
the supervision of the Commissioner of Public Safety. The State Medical
Examiner shall be appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety subject to the
approval of a majority of a panel composed of the following: (a) the Dean of
the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine; (b) the Dean
of the University of Mississippi School of Law; and (c) the State Health
Officer. The State Medical Examiner may be discharged only for good cause,
upon the recommendation of the Commissioner of Public Safety, and by a majority
of the same panel.
(2) Each applicant for the position of State Medical Examiner shall, as a minimum, be a physician who is eligible for a license to practice medicine in Mississippi and be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology, and shall be a resident of the State of Mississippi.
(3) There is * * * created the State Medical Examiner
Advisory Council composed of the State Health Officer or his or her designee,
the Dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine or
his or her designee, the Commissioner of Public Safety, the Attorney General or
his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Coroners' Association or
his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Prosecutors Association
or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi Public Defenders
Association or his or her designee, the President of the Mississippi
Association of Chiefs of Police or his or her designee, and the President of
the Mississippi Sheriff's Association or his or her designee. The council
shall be purely advisory and serve as a liaison between the State Medical
Examiner and the various entities related to the Medical Examiner Act.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.