House committee refines process for public access to autopsy reports, gives court decision authority

The House Human Services Committee presented and the House approved a committee amendment to Senate Bill S210, which establishes a process for certain people close to a decedent to seek access to autopsy reports through the probate division of superior court.

Representative Steady (Milton), speaking for the committee, said the procedure requires a petitioner to notify the medical examiner and the state's attorney within five days of filing and gives those parties 14 days to respond to the petitioner and the court. Under the committee amendment, the judge must find that the petitioner has demonstrated good cause before ordering disclosure and must weigh factors including the petitioner’s relationship to the decedent, whether disclosure is necessary for public evaluation of a government proposal, the seriousness of the intrusion into the decedent and family, and whether redaction is appropriate.

The committee amended language that had effectively given a state's attorney a veto in some versions of the bill; the change gives the court the decision-making authority and includes a new subsection allowing a petitioner to refile if material information changes.

Representative Steady said the committee heard from a range of stakeholders, including the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the bill sponsor in the Senate, the Legislative Council, the Department of State's Attorneys, the judiciary, the Vermont Department of Health, and the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Commission. The committee approved S210 as amended and the House proposed the committee’s amendment to the Senate; the House also ordered third reading.