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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
SENATE BILL 707 By: Rosino
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to medicolegal investigations;
amending 63 O.S. 2021, Section 942 , which relates to
report of findings; requiring furnishing of report to
certain persons; requiring the Office of the Chief
Medical Examiner to make certain disclosure;
requiring certain notice to contain specified
information; imposing certain duty on licensed
funeral directors; providing for codification; and
providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 63 O.S. 2021, Section 9 42, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 942. A. 1. Upon completion of an investigation , the
medical examiner shall reduce his or her findings to writing upon
the form supplied to the medical examiner which shall be promp tly
sent to the Chief Medical Examiner by mai l.
2. If the medical exam iner finds that the deceased had illicit,
prescription or nonprescription drugs in his or her system at the
time of death, the medical examiner shall document in his or her
findings if the death was:
a. a natural or accidental dea th with drug involvement,
b. a homicide by drugs,
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c. a suicide by drug overdo se, or
d. a death with drug involvement, but the manner of death
could not be determined.
3. A fatality shall not be considered a dru g-related death
unless the medical examiner d etermines that the drug or drugs
present in the deceased materially contribut ed to the death.
B. Copies of reports shall be furnished by the Chief Medical
Examiner to investigating:
1. Investigating agencies having official interest therein .
Copies of reports shall also be f urnished to the;
2. The person legally entitled to the custody of the body of
the deceased, or his or her representative to whom the body is
released under Section 941a of this title, upon or before the
release of the body; and
3. The spouse of the deceased or any person within one degree
of consanguinity of the deceased upon request and within five ( 5)
business days of the request once the cause and manner of death have
been determined and the death certificate has been issued.
SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 944.3 of Title 63, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. If, in the course of an investigation, the Office of the
Chief Medical Examiner declines to conduct an autopsy under Section
944 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the Office shall so inform
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the person legally entitled to the custody of the body of the
deceased, or his or her representative to whom the body is released
under Section 941a of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, through a
written notice upon or before the release of the body.
B. The written notice shall accompany the report issued and
furnished to such person or representative under S ection 942 of
Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The written notice shall
summarize any evidence detailed in the report relevant to the
decision not to conduct an autopsy and shall contain an explanation
in plain language of the justification for such decision. The
written notice shall state that the person may have the right to
request a private autopsy at personal expense from an authorized
physician or hospital under Section 1154 of Title 21 of the Oklahoma
Statutes.
C. If the body is released to a repr esentative of the person
legally entitled to the custody of the body and if that
representative is a funeral director licensed in this state, the
funeral director shall provide the person with the written notice
described in this section .
SECTION 3. This act shall becom e effective November 1, 2023.
59-1-251 DC 1/18/2023 2:26:26 PM