Creating a medicolegal investigation examining board; licensure of medical examiners and medicolegal investigation staff members; disposition of bodies; death investigations and duties of coroners and medical examiners; extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures; providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures; granting rule-making authority; making an appropriation; and providing criminal penalties

Current law provides for the election of coroners for four-year terms by the electors of each county or of more than one county in certain cases, except that a county with a population of 500,000 or more must, and a county with a population of less than 500,000 may, abolish the office of coroner and establish a medical examiner system.

Under the medical examiner system, a medical examiner is appointed by the county board or, in populous counties, by the county executive. Current law does not otherwise specify any particular requirements that an individual must fulfill in order to hold the office of coroner or to be appointed as a medical examiner.

The bill Licensure of medical examiners, medicolegal investigators, and others The bill establishes a prohibition against performing a death investigation or performing the functions of a medical examiner or a person who assists a coroner or medical examiner with a death investigation (medicolegal investigation staff member) without a license in medicolegal investigation issued by the Medicolegal Investigation Examining Board, except that the bill exempts coroners and certain accredited medical examiners from this requirement. Any person who violates the prohibition may be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 and imprisonment of up to 90 days.

The bill requires the board to issue an initial license in medicolegal investigation, at no charge, to every individual who is serving as a nonaccredited medical examiner or medicolegal investigation staff member in this state on the bill's effective date. The bill also allows an individual who is serving as coroner on the bill's effective date to elect to receive such a license. The bill requires each such individual to complete, prior to the next license renewal date, 40 hours of education, except that the bill allows an individual who holds a credential, in good standing, from a nationally recognized accreditation organization specializing in death investigation education to receive a waiver from completing 16 of those 40 hours. The bill requires the board to provide, at no cost, the required hours of training to these individuals.

The bill also requires the board to issue a license in medicolegal investigation to any individual who is appointed as a nonaccredited medical examiner or is hired to serve as a medicolegal investigation staff member after the bill's effective date, if the individual pays any initial license fee imposed by the board. The bill requires such an individual to complete a 40-hour death investigation training course within 18 months of initial licensure.

Finally, the bill allows an individual who is not serving as a medical examiner or medicolegal investigator to obtain a license in medicolegal investigation from the board if he or she first completes 40 hours of training and pays any licensure fee established by the board.

The bill provides that the renewal date for any license in medicolegal investigation is January 1, 2019, and every four years thereafter. In order to renew a license, a license holder must pay any renewal fee imposed by the board and complete 24 hours of education, subject to certain exemptions for initial renewals.

Medicolegal Investigation Examining Board; powers and duties The bill provides for the creation of the 11-member board in the Department of Safety and Professional Services, to be composed of two individuals who are coroners, chief deputy coroners, or deputy coroners; two individuals who are nonaccredited medical examiners or medicolegal investigation staff members; two accredited medical examiners; a member of the Wisconsin District Attorneys' Association; members of two specified law enforcement organizations; the attorney general or his or her designee; and one public member, appointed for six-year terms.

The bill requires the board to do all of the following:

1. Promulgate rules specifying standards and curricula for training and education requirements for individuals holding a license in medicolegal investigation issued by the board.

2. Coordinate and provide, on a regional basis, training and education for holders of licenses issued by the board at no cost to those license holders.

3. Monitor compliance with the licensure requirements created by the bill.

4. Revoke the license of a license holder who fails to complete the required death investigation course.

5. Provide the required training and education to license holders. The bill allows the board to impose fees for licenses issued after the bill's effective date and for license renewals.

The bill also requires the board, if a license is revoked or not renewed for any reason, to do any of the following that applies to the license holder:

1. If the license holder is a nonaccredited medical examiner, send a statement to the county board or county executive, if applicable, for any county in which the license holder serves, recommending dismissal of the nonaccredited medical examiner because of the revocation or failure to renew the license.

2. If the license holder is a medicolegal investigation staff member, send a notice to the office in which the individual works notifying the coroner or medical examiner of the revocation or failure to renew the license.

The bill requires an individual who is appointed as a nonaccredited medical examiner or is hired to serve as a medicolegal investigation staff member, and who leaves his or her position as a medical examiner or medicolegal investigation staff member, to so inform the board.

The bill appropriates to the board all moneys received from licensure fees for medicolegal investigators licensed by the board.

Notifications The bill requires a coroner or medical examiner who receives notice of a death to notify the deceased's next of kin. The bill provides that a coroner or medical examiner need not notify the district attorney of certain types of reported deaths if the district attorney has waived notice in writing.

Handling of personal property The bill requires a coroner or medical examiner to maintain an inventory of personal property that the coroner or medical examiner takes from a death scene or from a deceased. The bill specifies that the coroner or medical examiner must destroy, in accordance with applicable county evidence retention policies and standards for disposal of medications, or donate to a drug repository program any prescription medications that the coroner or medical examiner collects in an investigation and does not provide to a law enforcement agency.

Disposition of bodies Authorization to embalm or dispose of a body.

The bill requires an authorization from the coroner or medical examiner to embalm the body of a person whose death must be reported. The bill specifies certain information that a coroner or medical examiner must include on an authorization to embalm a body.

Cremation permit.

The bill provides that even when a death is caused by a contagious or infectious disease, the body may not be cremated within 48 hours of the pronouncement of death unless the body must be cremated immediately to effectively contain the disease or a public health authority orders the sooner disposal of the body during a state of emergency that is related to public health. The bill requires that, if the medical certification of the cause and manner of death on a death certificate is completed by a physician, the coroner or medical examiner must review the medical certification before issuing a cremation permit. The bill further requires that a coroner or medical examiner must specify on a cremation permit the earliest date and time that cremation may occur.

Authorization to disinter and reinter.

The bill clarifies that no person, other than a cemetery, may disinter a body or human remains without authorization from the coroner or medical examiner. The bill adds, as a condition for obtaining a coroner's or medical examiner's authorization for disinterment without a court order, that the person requesting authorization provide proof of intent to cremate or bury the disinterred remains.

Disposition of unidentified or unclaimed bodies.

This bill provides that, if a person other than the superintendent of a state, county, or municipal institution has an unidentified or unclaimed body, the person may notify the coroner or medical examiner in the county of residence of the deceased, who must bury or cremate the body. The bill further provides that, if the coroner or medical examiner makes reasonable efforts to identify a body and notify the deceased's representative of disposal of the body, the coroner or medical examiner is immune from civil liability for his or her choice of method for disposing of the body. Under current law, if an inmate of a state, county, or municipal institution dies, and a relative or friend of the deceased does not claim the body and a medical or mortuary school does not take the body, the superintendent of the institution must bury the body.

Mental health treatment records This bill provides a coroner or medical examiner access to a deceased's mental health treatment records without informed consent for the purpose of completing a medical certification on a certificate of death or for conducting a death investigation.

Under current law, a coroner or medical examiner may obtain a deceased's health care records without informed consent for the purpose of completing a medical certification on a certificate of death or for conducting a death investigation.