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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
61 |
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THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
relating to coroners.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that coroners should be separate from law enforcement officers and free to make independent judgments when investigating deaths. Under current state law, the chief of police for a county serves as the ex officio coroner if the county does not have a medical examiner. The ethical concerns with this dual role were illustrated by the 2023 wildfires on the island of Maui, where questions existed about police behavior during wildfire evacuations. Allowing Maui's chief of police to oversee death investigations, including death counts and cause of death determinations, raised public concerns about police accountability and government transparency.
The legislature believes that making coroners independent from law enforcement officers will promote transparency, avoid conflicts of interest, and encourage more confidence in coroners' rulings.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the mayor of each county to appoint, and the respective county or city council to confirm, a county medical examiner; and
(2) Provide that the medical examiner for each county shall serve as the county's coroner.
SECTION 2. Section 841-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-1 [Who are coroners.]
Medical examiners and county coroners.
(a) The mayor of each county shall appoint, and
the respective county council or city council shall confirm, a medical examiner
to perform medical investigative services establishing the cause of any
unattended death in the respective county.
The medical examiner shall be exempt from chapter 76.
(b)
Each medical examiner shall be licensed as a physician under chapter 453
and certified as an anatomic or forensic pathologist by the American Board of
Pathology.
(c) The [chief of police or
his authorized subordinate of the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and Kauai, and the]
medical examiner of [the city and county of Honolulu,] each county
shall, ex officio, be the coroner for [his] that respective
county."
SECTION 3. Section 841-14, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-14 Autopsies and further
investigations. [[](a)[]]
If, in the opinion of the coroner, [or of the] coroner's physician, [or
of the] prosecuting attorney, or [of the] chief of police [(in
the city and county of Honolulu)], an autopsy of the remains of any human
body appearing to have come to death under any of the circumstances set forth
in section 841-3 is necessary in the interest of the public safety or welfare,
that person shall cause [to have] an autopsy to be performed[,
such an autopsy]. If, in the opinion
of the coroner's physician, a further or additional investigation as to the
cause of death is necessary, the coroner's physician may conduct the same or
have the same made, and the expenses thereof shall be paid by the county
concerned, and for this purpose, the coroner's physician shall have the duties
and powers conferred upon the coroner or deputy coroner by sections 841-4 to
841-8.
[[](b)[]] Any law to the contrary notwithstanding, to
determine cause of death, the coroner or coroner's physician [or
medical examiner of any county (including the city and county of Honolulu)]
may cause [to have performed] an autopsy to [determine cause of death]
be performed upon the remains of any human body which is brought into or
found within the State and which appears to have [come to death] died
under any of the circumstances set forth in section 841-3, even though [such]
the circumstances may have occurred without the State. The coroner or coroner's physician [or
medical examiner of any county (including the city and county of Honolulu)]
shall have the right to retain tissues, including fetal material, of the body
removed at the time of autopsy to be used for necessary or advisable scientific
investigation, including research, teaching, and therapeutic purposes."
SECTION 4. Section 841-17, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-17 Hospital records. The chief of police [of the city and
county of Honolulu] or the chief's deputy, [and the] coroner or
deputy coroner, and [the] coroner's physician may examine the records of
any hospital relating to any patient of the hospital in connection with any
investigation under this chapter. The
hospital may require written proof signed by the coroner of the fact of the
investigation and of the authority of the person desiring to examine the
records."
SECTION 5. Section 841-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§841-18 Coroner's physician;
laboratory facilities. [The
medical examiner or any of the medical examiner's assistants in the city and
county of Honolulu, and any] Any experienced or qualified government
physician designated by the coroner in [the counties of Hawaii, Maui, and
Kauai,] each county shall be the coroner's physician for [such]
that county or city and county.
The facilities of the laboratories of the state department of health
shall be made available to the coroner's physician. [The] As used in this section, the
term [government physician as used in this chapter] "government
physician" means a physician employed by the State or any of its
political subdivisions."
SECTION 6. Section 844D-102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to
limit the authority of the [medical examiner of the city and county of
Honolulu or] county coroners or their agents, in the course of their
scientific investigation, to use genetic and DNA technology to inquire into and
determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of death, or to employ or use
outside laboratories, hospitals, or research institutions that use genetic and
DNA technology."
SECTION 7. Sections 6E-43.6, 321-342, 321-471, 321-502, 324-1, 327-22, 327-23, 327-32, 560:3-1212, and 841-14.6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, are amended by substituting the word "coroner" wherever the phrase "medical examiner or coroner" or "coroner or medical examiner" appears, as the context requires.
SECTION 8. Section 52D-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.
["[§52D-4] Ex officio coroner. Where there is no other county medical
examiner, the chief of police or any duly authorized subordinate shall be ex
officio county coroner. An ex officio
county coroner shall have all the powers and perform all the duties of coroner,
within that county, as provided by law."]
SECTION 9. The appropriations contained in this Act constitute the State's share of costs as required under Article VIII, section 5 of the Hawaii State Constitution.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the county of Hawaii for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 11. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the establishment of a county medical examiner position.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the county of Kauai for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 12. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2026-2027 for the establishment of a county medical examiner position.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the county of Maui for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 13. No later than days after the effective date of this Act, or no later than days after a vacancy occurs in the county's medical examiner position, the mayor of each county shall appoint, and the respective county or city council shall confirm, a county medical examiner pursuant to section 841-1(a) and (b), Hawaii Revised Statutes.
SECTION 14. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 15. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
Medical Examiners; County Coroners; Appropriations
Description:
Requires the mayor of each county to appoint, and the county council or city council to confirm, a county medical examiner. Provides that the medical examiner for each county shall serve as the county's coroner. Makes conforming amendments. Appropriates moneys to the counties of Maui, Hawaii, and Kauai, for the establishment of county medical examiner positions.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.