HB 61 Summary

• Requires the mayor of each county to appoint, and the respective county or city council to confirm, a county medical examiner who must be licensed as a physician and certified as an anatomic or forensic pathologist by the American Board of Pathology.

• Provides that the medical examiner for each county shall serve ex officio as the county's coroner, removing police chiefs from the coroner role.

• Removes references to police chiefs serving as ex officio coroners and repeals section 52D-4 which authorized police chiefs to serve as coroners when no medical examiner existed.

• Appropriates unspecified sums from general revenues to the counties of Hawaii, Kauai, and Maui for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to establish county medical examiner positions.

• Takes effect July 1, 2025, with county appointments and confirmations required within a specified number of days after the effective date or when a vacancy occurs.