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Panel approves consolidation of autopsy‑record provisions into Title 23, department says
Summary
Department witnesses told the House Human Services Committee that House Bill 1068 consolidates rules on autopsy reports, working papers and images into Chapter 23 of the North Dakota Century Code, clarifies who may receive records and preserves current confidentiality rules; committee recorded no opposition during the hearing.
Chairman Ruby opened the hearing on House Bill 1068, a department‑requested bill to amend and reenact Sections 23-01-05.5 and 44-04-18.18 of the North Dakota Century Code to clarify release and confidentiality rules for autopsy reports, working papers and photographs.
Kirby Krueger, director of Disease Control and Forensic Pathology with the Department of Health and Human Services, said the bill consolidates language so the State Forensic Examiner’s Office and its designee can consistently determine which records may be released and under what conditions. “Just at a high level, section 1 of this bill clarifies which records from the state forensic examiner's office are the forensic examiner officers offices designee can be released to and to whom and defines the conditions of the recent of the records,” Krueger said.
Krueger outlined specific changes: definitions for notes and working papers (distinct from autopsy reports), exclusion of autopsy photographs and other visual images from the “working papers” definition, rules requiring a next of kin to provide satisfactory proof of relationship before a report of death becomes an open record, and an explicit authorization for the suicide fatality review commission and the maternal mortality review committee to receive autopsy reports under defined conditions. He also said the bill moves current authorized releases from Title 44 into a single statute in Title 23.
Assistant Attorney General Lisonbee Hicks, general counsel for the public health division, explained the consolidation intent: “So basically what this bill is did is it takes all of the different portions of the century code that allowed different little tiny commissions to get autopsy reports, and it puts them in 1 place so that when Adrianne gets Adrianne Night step, who's the office manager of the State Forensic Examiner's office, gets a request for an autopsy report, she automatically knows it's in 1 place. Does that entity get it or not?”
Committee members asked about family access and committee release rules. Krueger clarified that under the bill, review committees such as the suicide fatality review commission and maternal mortality review committee can request and receive autopsy reports without family permission in those committee reviews; families retain independent authority to request autopsy reports only if they meet the categories set in statute. Krueger also noted the bill carries forward current authorized uses for photos and images — including specified educational and training uses — and that photographs and visual images taken by others would remain confidential.
Krueger told the committee the Department of Corrections has a related proposal pending in the House Judiciary Committee to clarify access to autopsy reports for deaths in county jails, but he said the crossover is minimal and the bills would not conflict if passed in either order. Representative Dobrevitch raised concerns about aligning the changes with prior work on coroners; Krueger and Lisonbee Hicks said the bill preserves the existing authorizations and chiefly consolidates them for clarity.
No witnesses registered opposition at the hearing, and the committee closed the hearing after taking testimony in support only.
Key clarifications in the bill include moving photo/image release language into Section 23-01-05.5, defining working papers separate from autopsy photos and recordings, requiring proof of kinship for next‑of‑kin release before a report becomes open, and authorizing specified review commissions to receive reports under the statute.
