Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

ENROLLED ORIGINAL

                                            AN ACT

                                       _______________

                   IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

                                ___________________________

To amend the Establishment of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Act of 2000 to permit

      the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to transfer a decedents personal property and

      effects to the decedents next-of-kin or funeral services establishment, to allow the Office

      of the Chief Medical Examiner to dispose of property found on or in the custody of the

      decedent that has no apparent value or poses a risk to health or safety, to grant access to

      records and files maintained by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to relevant

      District and federal agencies, to provide that information contained in external

      examination and autopsy reports is a public record under the Freedom of Information Act

      of 1976, to permit persons to directly obtain an external examination or autopsy report

      from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and to designate certain photographs,

      negatives, videos, prints, and other images in the Office of the Chief Medical Examiners

      records and files as confidential and subject to disclosure only in limited circumstances.

       BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this

act may be cited as the Medical Examiner Records Privacy Amendment Act of 2022.

        Sec. 2. The Establishment of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner Act of 2000,

effective October 19, 2000 (D.C. Law 13-172; D.C. Official Code  5-1401 et seq.), is amended

as follows:

        (a) Section 2909(b) (D.C. Official Code  5-1408(b)) is amended to read as follows:

        (b) A law enforcement officer, a medical examiner, or a medicolegal investigator may

take possession of all property of value found on or in the custody of the decedent. If possession

is taken of the property, the law enforcement officer, medical examiner, or medicolegal

investigator shall make an exact inventory of the property and deliver it to the Property Clerk of

the Metropolitan Police Department; except, that the CME may instead transfer the property to

the person with the right to control the disposition of the remains of the decedent under section

14 of the District of Columbia Funeral Services Regulatory Act of 1984, effective May 22, 1984

(D.C. Law 5-84; D.C. Official Code  3-413), or to the funeral services establishment that has or

takes possession of the remains of the decedent. The CME may dispose of, in any reasonable

manner, property of no apparent value or property deemed to be a hazard to health or safety. The

Mayor shall issue regulations concerning the transfer of any such property from the OCME..

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        (b) Section 2913 (D.C. Official Code  5-1412) is amended as follows:

                (1) Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows:

        (b) Except as provided in subsection (c-2)(3) of this section, the records and files

maintained pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall be open, upon request, to inspection by

any person designated by the Mayor, the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of

Columbia, the Metropolitan Police Department or another law enforcement agency, a

government health or safety organization, or a fatality review committee or board of the District

government when such inspection is necessary for the discharge of its official duties. Upon

request by such person, the CME shall promptly deliver to such person copies of records relating

to the deaths as to which further investigation may be advisable..

                (2) Subsection (c) is repealed.

                (3) New subsections (c-1) and (c-2) are added to read as follows:

        (c-1) An external examination or autopsy report of a decedent in the CMEs records and

files:

                (1) Shall be a public record under the Freedom of Information Act of 1976,

effective March 29, 1977 (D.C. Law 1-96; D.C. Official Code  2-531 et seq.), only as to the

following information:

                       (A) Name of the decedent;

                       (B) Race of the decedent;

                       (C) Sex of the decedent;

                       (D) Age of the decedent;

                       (E) Cause of death;

                       (F) Manner of death;

                       (G) Place of death;

                       (H) Case identification number;

                       (I) Date of examination; and

                       (J) Name of the examiner performing the external examination or

autopsy; and

                (2) May be obtained directly from the CME by the following persons, without

those persons being required to make a request for records pursuant to section 202(a) of the

Freedom of Information Act of 1976, effective March 29, 1977 (D.C. Law 1-96; D.C. Official

Code  2-532(a)), after written request and payment of such fees as may be prescribed by

regulations issued pursuant to section 2918:

                       (A) A person with the right to control the disposition of the decedents

remains pursuant to section 14 of the District of Columbia Funeral Services Regulatory Act of

1984, effective May 22, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-84; D.C. Official Code  3-413) (section 14 of the

Funeral Services Regulatory Act);

                       (B) A person without the right to control the disposition of the decedents

remains pursuant to section 14 of the Funeral Services Regulatory Act if:

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                                (i) The person has the written consent of a person having the right

to control the disposition of the decedents remains pursuant to section 14 of the Funeral

Services Regulatory Act; or

                                (ii) The person has the authority to receive the external

examination or autopsy report under a properly issued subpoena in a matter pending before a

court having personal jurisdiction over the CME, if a copy of the subpoena has been properly

served on the person with the right to control the disposition of the decedents remains pursuant

to section 14 of the Funeral Services Regulatory Act; or

                        (C) A healthcare provider, healthcare facility, or medical peer review

committee in furtherance of a review of the decedents care.

        (c-2) A photograph, negative, video, print or other image of a decedent, or any portion

of the body of a decedent, in the CMEs records and files, shall not be disclosed by the CME

except for:

                (1) Use or potential use in a criminal action or proceeding that relates to the

decedents death;

                (2) Use or potential use in a civil action or proceeding that relates to the

decedents death, pursuant to:

                        (A) The written authorization of a person with the right to control the

disposition of the decedents remains pursuant to section 14 of the Funeral Services Regulatory

Act of 1984; or

                        (B) A valid subpoena;

                (3) A purpose necessary to further an investigation by a person identified in

subsection (b) of this section; or

                (4) Use in medical or scientific education or research where the identity of the

decedent is kept confidential..

                (4) A new subsection (e) is added to read as follows:

        (e) For the purposes of this section, the term government health or safety organization

means a state or federal agency responsible for protecting health or safety, including the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Federal

Aviation Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board, and the Occupational Safety

and Health Administration..

       Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.

       The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal

impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975,

approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code  1-301.47a).

      Sec. 4. Effective date.

      This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the

Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as

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provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December

24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code  1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of

Columbia Register.

               ______________________________

               Chairman

               Council of the District of Columbia

_________________________________

Mayor

District of Columbia

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