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OKLAHOMA CITY (April 22, 2009) - Legislation giving the board overseeing the state Medical Examiner's Office more responsibility in order to increase accountability and transparency at the agency passed the House today.

Senate Bill 738 would allow the state Board of Medicolegal Investigations to appoint the chief medical examiner and also a newly-created director of the Office of the State Medical Examiner.

Both positions would be at-will employees, giving the board more flexibility to make changes quickly as needed.  An empowered board will give the public added confidence in the office, said House Speaker Chris Benge, author of the bill. The change is needed following numerous recent issues with the state Medical Examiner's office. House and Senate leaders have expressed concerns for over a year regarding the management and operations of the office. 

"This change is needed to make the medical examiner's office more accountable to the people, but still maintains the agency's autonomy to avoid any conflicts of interest," said Benge, R-Tulsa. "We have worked extensively with the ME's office and the board on this legislation, and we believe many of the changes needed are already underway to return public confidence in the agency. We also included reporting requirements in the bill so the Legislature can continue to monitor the office's operations."

The director's responsibilities will be administrative in nature and will include handling the day-to-day management of the  agency. The director would be charged to adopt written professional qualification requirements for each staff position related to the investigation of deaths and to require background checks be performed for all prospective hires for the office.

The professional qualifications are to apply to all forensic pathologists, chemists, investigators and the position of Chief Investigator. Monthly board meetings would be required by the legislation to ensure oversight of the agency continues.

Finally, the bill will require the CME to obtain approval by the Legislature before closing a satellite office. The bill passed the House today with a bipartisan vote of 88-4 and will now return to the Senate for further consideration.