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Committee advances bill to add online training for coroners and bar felons from deputy coroner posts
Summary
House Bill 1014 would permit online training for county coroners, require extra classes, and make people with felony convictions ineligible to serve as deputy coroners; sponsors said the change protects investigative integrity. Committee members cited a past case prompting concern; the bill passed by voice vote.
Speaker 3 presented House Bill 1014, saying the bill "allow[s] online training for county coroners to provide for additional training classes for county coroners and to provide that a person with a felony conviction is not eligible to be a deputy coroner." The sponsor emphasized that "a coroner is a position of trust," likening qualifications to those required of law-enforcement officers and jailers.
Senator Bridal asked whether the problem had occurred in the past and why the change was needed. Speaker 3 said the statute is intended to make the prohibition "crystal clear, that no means no." Another committee member, identified in the transcript as Speaker 5, recounted a case where a convicted felon had served as a coroner, said the matter went to court and that the conviction had been used by defense attorneys to challenge the integrity of an investigation.
No members of the public signed up to testify. Speaker 3 closed the presentation and the committee approved the bill by voice vote after a motion and second were recorded. The transcript does not include the bill text, the specific training curriculum, or details about how states or counties will implement the online training.
