Governor signs bill reforming state coroner system
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill into law on Monday creating a new oversight and training system for Missouri's coroners.
The new law creates a ten-person "Coroner Standards and Training Commission" that will set up rules on how coroners do their jobs and certify that elected coroners go through that training. One dollar from every death certificate fee in the state will go toward the new commission.
Advocates for the changes say the law is needed to ensure coroners avoid mistakes on people's death certificates. An ABC 17 News investigation highlighted these issues in November, when Joy Chance said Miller County coroner Tim Bradley failed to properly investigate her husband's death. Jay Minor fought for the changes for years after Howard County coroner Frank Flaspohler didn't order an autopsy following his son's sudden death.
Chance told ABC 17 News on Monday that she had mixed feelings about the new law. She said the changes were necessary, but said it required a lot of pain on the part of families affected by issues with county coroners to get there.
"So many families go without answers and they go feeling like it's their fault because they didn't get the answers that they needed," Chance said. "And it's all because the coroners didn't have to do their jobs. There wasn't laws, there wasn't rules, there wasn't regulations or anything put into place for them to follow, until today."
Bradley first put "undiagnosed sleep apnea" on Dustin Chance's death certificate in May 2019. That determination, without an ordered autopsy, raised questions from coroners across the state on how Bradley would have come to that conclusion. Bradley said last year that he made a mistake when he put down an undiagnosed condition on the death certificate, but defended his decision not to order an autopsy due to the cost and lack of any criminal circumstances around Dustin's death.
Parson said the law creates accountability for coroners. The committee and standards will help make the position, especially in smaller counties, more professional.
"If a county coroner would refuse to do something, even when his peers think he should be doing something different, we have that process in place to make that correction," Parson said.
