Bill Sponsor
Delaware House Bill 134
Session 152
An Act To Amend Titles 9, 10, 15, 16 And 29 Of The Delaware Code Relating To The Division Of Forensic Science And The Medical Examiner.
Became Law
Became Law
Signed by Governor on Jul 25, 2023
Sponsors
Democrat
Franklin D. Cooke
Democrat
Nicole Poore
Democrat
John "Jack" Walsh
First Action
May 2, 2023
Latest Action
Jul 25, 2023
Origin Chamber
House
Type
Bill
Bill Number
134
State
Delaware
Session
152
Sponsorship by Party
Democrat
Primary
Democrat
Primary
Democrat
Primary
Summary
This is a housekeeping bill to remove outdated references to the term “coroner” in the Delaware Code. Created in 1682, the Office of the Coroner was one of the earliest elective offices in Delaware. The primary responsibility of the coroner was to investigate all cases in which a person died while in prison, was killed, died an unnatural death, or the circumstances of the death were unknown. It was also the duty of the coroner to arrest a person believed to have committed murder or manslaughter and to perform the duties of the sheriff when the sheriff was unavailable. The Office of the Coroner was abolished in 1969 and the responsibility for determining the cause of death is now the responsibility of the Medical Examiner. Today, it is outside the Medical Examiner’s scope of employment to perform many of the job duties that coroners were historically expected to do, and this bill clarifies that Medical Examiners are only responsible for investigating causes of death throughout the State under the provisions of Chapter 47 of Title 29, relating to forensic science.
Actions (7)
07/25/2023
Office of the Governor
Signed by Governor
06/30/2023
Senate
Passed By Senate. Votes: 21 YES
06/14/2023
Senate
Reported Out of Committee (Corrections & Public Safety) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
05/11/2023
Senate
Assigned to Corrections & Public Safety Committee in Senate
05/11/2023
House
Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 4 ABSENT
05/09/2023
House
Reported Out of Committee (Public Safety & Homeland Security) in House with 7 Favorable
05/02/2023
House
Introduced and Assigned to Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee in House
Sources
Record Created
May 2, 2023 6:24:53 PM
Record Updated
Aug 4, 2023 6:50:54 PM