BILL REQ. #:  H-2284.1 

READ FIRST TIME 03/05/03.   

     AN ACT Relating to placing jurisdiction over deceased minors with the county coroner; amending RCW 68.50.010 and 68.50.105; and adding a new section to chapter 68.50 RCW.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 68.50.010 and 1963 c 178 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The jurisdiction of bodies of all deceased persons who come to their death suddenly when in apparent good health without medical attendance within the thirty-six hours preceding death; or where the circumstances of death indicate death was caused by unnatural or unlawful means; or where death occurs under suspicious circumstances; or where a coroner's autopsy or post mortem or coroner's inquest is to be held; or where death results from unknown or obscure causes, or where death occurs within one year following an accident; or where the death is caused by any violence whatsoever, or where death results from a known or suspected abortion; whether self-induced or otherwise; where death apparently results from drowning, hanging, burns, electrocution, gunshot wounds, stabs or cuts, lightning, starvation, radiation, exposure, alcoholism, narcotics or other addictions, tetanus, strangulations, suffocation, or smothering; or where death is due to premature birth or still birth; or where death is due to a violent contagious disease or suspected contagious disease which may be a public health hazard; or where death results from alleged rape, carnal knowledge, or sodomy, where death occurs in a jail or prison; where a body is found dead or is not claimed by relatives or friends; or where the deceased is a minor, is hereby vested in the county coroner, which bodies may be removed and placed in the morgue under such rules as are adopted by the coroner with the approval of the county commissioners, having jurisdiction, providing therein how the bodies shall be brought to and cared for at the morgue and held for the proper identification where necessary.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 68.50 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The coroner, medical examiner, or person acting in that capacity shall promptly notify the department of social and health services of any instances in which the coroner, medical examiner, or person acting in that capacity has received notice of a minor's death.
     (2) Nothing in this section creates a duty on the part of the department to investigate the circumstances of a child's death or otherwise provide child protective services beyond that required by chapter 26.44 RCW.
     (3) Nothing in this section requires the department to keep a record of all minors on which they have received a notice of death. The department shall keep a record only when it is determined that abuse or neglect caused or contributed to the child's death, or when the case involves a minor for whom the department has previously had an open child protection or child welfare case.

Sec. 3   RCW 68.50.105 and 1987 c 331 s 58 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Reports and records of autopsies or post mortems shall be confidential, except that the following persons may examine and obtain copies of any such report or record: The personal representative of the decedent as defined in RCW 11.02.005, any family member, the attending physician, the prosecuting attorney or law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction, public health officials, the department of social and health services in cases involving the death of any minor where abuse or neglect of the child may have caused or contributed to his or her death or in cases involving any minor for whom the department has an open child protection or child welfare case or has had an open child protection or child welfare case in the year preceding the death of the child, or to the department of labor and industries in cases in which it has an interest under RCW 68.50.103.
     (2) If an investigation is initiated by the department of social and health services, the department may share coroner's or medical examiner's documents with the investigators as part of the investigation process.
     (3) The coroner, the medical examiner, or the attending physician shall, upon request, meet with the family of the decedent to discuss the findings of the autopsy or post mortem. For the purposes of this section, the term "family" means the surviving spouse, or any child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, brother, or sister of the decedent, or any person who was guardian of the decedent at the time of death.