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Subcommittee moves bill seeking state payment for some county autopsy costs; motion to reconsider fails
Summary
House Bill 94, requested by a local government, asks the state to cover certain autopsy and travel costs for CoreCivic and Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) inmates that counties currently pay. The subcommittee rolled the bill to the final calendar for further review; a later motion to reconsider that action failed (2 ayes, 4 noes).
Representative Shaw presented House Bill 94, describing a local-government request that the state pay autopsy and related travel costs for some inmates housed by CoreCivic and the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC). Shaw said the county sometimes pays up to about $5,000 per inmate for autopsies and associated travel costs and is asking the state to assume those charges for CoreCivic and TDOC inmates.
“Occasionally the county has to pay for TDOC as well as CoreCivic inmate autopsies as well as the travel time, and this sometime cost up to around $5,000 per inmate,” Representative Shaw said. He told the committee the county does not object to paying for autopsies of local detainees but believes the state should pay charges associated with state or private-contract inmates housed in local jails.
Committee members asked whether counties currently receive reimbursement for those autopsy costs; Shaw replied that he was not aware of any current state refunds. Chair Powers said the bill appeared to merit further research, especially a fiscal review, and moved to place the bill on the final calendar to allow time for additional information. The motion to place the bill on the final calendar was seconded and the item was rolled to the final calendar (non-final action for the session).
Afterwards, Representative Chisholm asked to reconsider the committee's action and a motion to reconsider was made and seconded. The clerk reported the vote on reconsideration as two ayes and four noes; the motion to reconsider failed, leaving the earlier calendar placement intact. The transcript does not include a roll-call of individual votes for the reconsideration tally beyond the clerk's report.
The sponsor and members did not provide a statewide fiscal estimate or a count of affected autopsies; Shaw said counties have encountered individual charges “about $5,000” per autopsy but did not provide an aggregate estimate. The subcommittee directed no staff assignment on the record beyond moving the bill to the final calendar for further review.
