SSB 5256 -
By Committee on Judiciary
ADOPTED 04/17/2013
Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:
"Sec. 1 RCW 68.50.105 and 2011 c 61 s 1 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) Reports and records of autopsies or postmortems 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 or advanced registered nurse practitioner, the
prosecuting attorney or law enforcement agencies having jurisdiction,
public health officials, the department of labor and industries in
cases in which it has an interest under RCW 68.50.103, or the secretary
of the department of social and health services or his or her designee
in cases being reviewed under RCW 74.13.640.
(2)(a) Notwithstanding the restrictions contained in this section
regarding the dissemination of records and reports of autopsies or
postmortems, nor the exemptions referenced under RCW 42.56.240(1),
nothing in this chapter prohibits a coroner, medical examiner, or his
or her designee, from publicly discussing his or her findings as to any
death subject to the jurisdiction of his or her office where actions of
a law enforcement officer or corrections officer have been determined
to be a proximate cause of the death, except as provided in (b) of this
subsection.
(b) A coroner, medical examiner, or his or her designee may not
publicly discuss his or her findings outside of formal court or inquest
proceedings if there is a pending or active criminal investigation, or
a criminal or civil action, concerning a death that has commenced prior
to the effective date of this section.
(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 postmortem. For the purposes of this
section, the term "family" means the surviving spouse, state registered
domestic partner, 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.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 68.50 RCW
to read as follows:
No coroner, medical examiner, or his or her designee shall be
liable, nor shall a cause of action exist, for any loss or damage based
upon the release of any information related to his or her findings
under RCW 68.50.105 if the coroner, medical examiner, or his or her
designee acted in good faith in attempting to comply with the
provisions of this chapter.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act takes effect January 1, 2014."
Correct the title.
EFFECT: Provides that a coroner, medical examiner, or designee is
not prevented from publicly discussing findings as to any death within
his or her jurisdiction that was proximately caused by a law
enforcement or corrections officer (rather than conclusions regarding
the cause, manner, and mechanism of death when the death was
proximately caused by a law enforcement officer or occurred in a
penitentiary or institution). However, public discussion of findings
related to a death is restricted to formal court and inquest
proceedings when there is a criminal investigation or litigation
concerning the death that is in place at the time of the effective date
of the act.
Adds language providing immunity from liability for release of
information by a coroner, medical examiner, or designee, as long as he
or she made a good faith attempt to comply with the law.