House committee advances bill allowing coroners to share autopsy reports with corrections department

The House Judiciary Committee voted to give House Bill 1116 a “do pass” recommendation after brief consideration, moving the bill toward further action in the legislature.

House Bill 1116 would allow coroners to provide autopsy reports for inspection by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Representative Schneider moved the motion for a ‘‘do pass’’ recommendation; Representative Van Winkle seconded the motion. Committee Chair Clamine called a roll call and the motion passed unanimously among voting members, 13 to 0, with one member absent.

Committee members heard that only a single witness appeared from the Department of Corrections on the bill during the public hearing. No witnesses registered formal opposition during the hearing, according to the committee chair’s summary of testimony. The chair also noted that other related legislation (House Bill 1068, requested by the Department of Health and Human Services) deals with autopsy reports in a different part of statute and that the chair saw no conflict between the two measures.

The committee recorded the vote on the record and asked Representative Christiansen to serve as bill carrier for House Bill 1116. The committee did not take additional amendments during the session.

The bill will proceed to the next steps required by House rules for further consideration by the full chamber.