Subcommittee restores fingerprint requirement for coroner candidates, sets Jan. 1 effective date

Members of the subcommittee voted to amend bills 3048 and 753 to remove references to an obsolete certification program and to add a fingerprint-check requirement for coroner candidates, then moved both bills to the full committee with an agreed January 1 delayed effective date.

Paula, the subcommittee staff member, explained the two bills "are basically the same bill" except that the Senate version includes a fingerprint check for coroners while the House version deleted that language. She provided committee members with language from the statute that requires fingerprint checks for sheriffs as a template.

Charleston County Coroner Bobby Joe O'Neil said coroners should meet qualifications at the time they take office and voiced strong support for fingerprinting candidates. "We are the only elected officials who go into people's homes," O'Neil said, arguing fingerprint checks reassure the public and permit coroners to obtain criminal-justice records needed for their work.

Sumter County Coroner Robert M. Baker Jr. supported adding fingerprinting and warned that coroner offices sometimes must act in a law-enforcement capacity: by statute a coroner can be acting sheriff under certain circumstances. "I don't think anybody in this state would want a coroner... potentially being a convicted felon," Baker said, stressing the public-protection rationale.

Coroner Rutherford (virtually) also voiced support, noting coroners secure personal property and sometimes handle large amounts of cash.

The committee discussed implementation timing and agreed a delayed effective date of January 1 would be appropriate to address filing and certification timing. The amendment to reinstate fingerprint checks was adopted by voice vote with no recorded opposition, and both bills were forwarded to the full committee.