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83rd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2025 Regular Session
Senate Bill 536
Sponsored by Senator PATTERSON (Presession filed.)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject
to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor’s brief statement of the essential features of the
measure as introduced.The statement includes a measure digest written in compliance with applicable readability
standards.
Digest: The Act lets two more types of health care practitioners be medical examiners. (Flesch
Readability Score:63.6).
Provides that a licensed physician associate or nurse practitioner may be a medical examiner.
Includes a licensure requirement for a physician who serves as a medical examiner.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to medical examiners; amending ORS 146.003.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 146.003 is amended to read:
146.003. As used in ORS 146.003 to 146.189 and 146.710 to 146.992, unless the context requires
otherwise:
(1) “Approved laboratory” means a laboratory approved by the Chief Medical Examiner as
competent to perform the blood sample analysis required by ORS 146.113 (2).
(2) “Assistant district medical examiner” means a physician licensed under ORS chapter 677,
physician associate licensed under ORS 677.505 to 677.525 or nurse practitioner licensed under
ORS 678.375 to 678.390 appointed by the district medical examiner to investigate and certify deaths
within a county or district.
(3) “Cause of death” means the primary or basic disease process or injury ending life.
(4) “Death requiring investigation” means the death of a person occurring in any one of the
circumstances set forth in ORS 146.090.
(5) “District medical examiner” means a physician licensed under ORS chapter 677, physician
associate licensed under ORS 677.505 to 677.525 or nurse practitioner licensed under ORS
678.375 to 678.390 appointed by the Chief Medical Examiner to investigate and certify deaths within
a county or district, including a Deputy State Medical Examiner.
(6) “Law enforcement agency” means a county sheriff’s office, municipal police department, po-
lice department established by a university under ORS 352.121 or 353.125 and the Oregon State Po-
lice.
(7) “Legal intervention” includes an execution pursuant to ORS 137.463, 137.467 and 137.473 and
other legal use of force resulting in death.
(8) “Manner of death” means the designation of the probable mode of production of the cause
of death, including natural, accidental, suicidal, homicidal, legal intervention or undetermined.
(9) “Medical examiner” means a physician licensed under ORS chapter 677, physician asso-
ciate licensed under ORS 677.505 to 677.525 or nurse practitioner licensed under ORS 678.375
to 678.390 appointed as provided by ORS 146.003 to 146.189 to investigate and certify the cause and
manner of deaths requiring investigation, including the Chief Medical Examiner.
NOTE:Matter in boldfaced type in an amended section is new; matter [italic and bracketed] is existing law to be omitted.
New sections are in boldfaced type.
LC 2319 SB536
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(10) “Medical-legal death investigator” means a person appointed by the district medical exam-
iner to assist in the investigation of deaths within a county.
(11) “Pathologist” means a physician holding a current license to practice medicine and surgery
and who is eligible for certification by the American Board of Pathology, or its successor organ-
ization.
(12) “Unidentified human remains” does not include human remains that are unidentified human
remains that are part of an archaeological site or suspected of being Native American and covered
under ORS chapters 97 and 390 and ORS 358.905 to 358.961.
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