AB867,25,32 b. Obtain a waiver from the requirement under subd. 2. a. in the method
3described under par. (c).
AB867,25,84 (c) The board may grant a waiver of the education requirement under par. (b)
52. a. to a coroner, nonaccredited medical examiner, or medicolegal investigation staff
6member who holds a credential, in good standing, from a nationally recognized
7accreditation organization specializing in death investigation education and who
8applies to the board for a waiver in the method prescribed by the board.
AB867,25,109 (d) Notwithstanding sub. (2) (a) 2. and s. 465.05 (2) (a), no initial license fee may
10be imposed for individuals issued an initial license under par. (a).
AB867,25,13 11(4) Optional license. (a) Initial license. The board may issue a license in
12medicolegal investigation to an individual, other than an individual required to hold
13a license under sub. (1), who satisfies all of the following criteria:
AB867,25,1514 1. The individual successfully completes 40 hours of training, as prescribed by
15the board, and any additional requirements set by the board.
AB867,25,1716 2. The individual applies to the board for a license in the manner prescribed
17by the board.
AB867,25,1918 3. The individual pays any licensing fee imposed by the board under s. 465.05
19(2) (a).
AB867,25,2220 (b) License renewal. The renewal date for a license issued under this subsection
21is specified under s. 440.08 (2) (a). Renewal applications shall include all of the
22following:
AB867,25,2323 1. Any fee established by the board under s. 465.05 (2) (a).
AB867,26,324 2. Proof satisfactory to the board that the individual has completed, in the
254-year period preceding the renewal date, 24 hours of education, as prescribed by the

1board. This subdivision does not apply to an individual applying for an initial
2renewal who is issued a license under par. (a) when there is less than one year
3remaining until the next license renewal date.
AB867,26,54 3. Proof that the individual has fulfilled any other requirements of licensure
5as prescribed by the board.
AB867,26,10 6(5) Board notification requirement. An individual who is elected as a coroner,
7is appointed to fill a vacancy as a coroner, is appointed as a nonaccredited medical
8examiner, or is hired by a coroner or medical examiner to serve as a medicolegal
9investigation staff member shall, if he or she leaves his or her position as a coroner,
10medical examiner, or medicolegal investigation staff member, so inform the board.
AB867,26,12 11465.15 Penalty. Any person who violates s. 465.10 (1) (a) shall be fined not
12more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than 90 days.
AB867,41 13Section 41. 979.001 of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,26,14 14979.001 Definitions. In this chapter:
AB867,26,15 15(1) "Health care provider" means all of the following:
AB867,26,1616 (a) A midwife licensed under subch. XIII of ch. 440.
AB867,26,1717 (b) A nurse licensed under ch. 441.
AB867,26,1818 (c) A chiropractor licensed under ch. 446.
AB867,26,1919 (d) A dentist licensed under ch. 447.
AB867,26,2120 (e) A physician, physician assistant, or respiratory care practitioner licensed
21or certified under subch. II of ch. 448.
AB867,26,2222 (f) A physical therapist licensed under subch. III of ch. 448.
AB867,26,2323 (g) A podiatrist licensed under subch. IV of ch. 448.
AB867,26,2424 (h) A dietitian certified under subch. V of ch. 448.
AB867,26,2525 (i) An athletic trainer licensed under subch. VI of ch. 448.
AB867,27,2
1(j) An occupational therapist or occupational therapy assistant licensed under
2subch. VII of ch. 448.
AB867,27,33 (k) An optometrist licensed under ch. 449.
AB867,27,44 (L) A pharmacist licensed under ch. 450.
AB867,27,55 (m) An acupuncturist certified under ch. 451.
AB867,27,66 (n) A psychologist licensed under ch. 455.
AB867,27,87 (o) A social worker, marriage and family therapist, or professional counselor
8certified or licensed under ch. 457.
AB867,27,119 (p) A speech-language pathologist or audiologist licensed under subch. II of ch.
10459 or a speech and language pathologist licensed by the department of public
11instruction.
AB867,27,1212 (q) A massage therapist or bodyworker certified under ch. 460.
AB867,27,14 13(2) "Hospice" means an organization, program, or place that meets the
14definition in s. 50.90 (1) and that is licensed under s. 50.92.
AB867,27,16 15(3) "Hospital" means a facility licensed under s. 50.35 or a facility operated as
16a hospital by the federal government, a state, or a political subdivision of a state.
AB867,27,17 17(4) "Human remains" has the meaning given in s. 157.061 (8).
AB867,27,18 18(5) "Law enforcement agency" has the meaning given in s. 165.83 (1) (b).
AB867,27,22 19(6) "Law enforcement officer" means any person employed by the state, or any
20political subdivision of the state, for the purpose of detecting and preventing crime
21and enforcing laws or ordinances and who is authorized to make arrests for violations
22of the laws or ordinances that the person is employed to enforce.
AB867,27,24 23(7) "Nursing home" means a facility that meets the definition in s. 50.01 (3) and
24that is licensed under subch. I of ch. 50.
AB867,28,3
1(8) "Representative of the deceased" means any member of one of the following
2classes of individuals, in the order of priority listed, who is available, if no member
3of a prior class is available:
AB867,28,44 (a) The deceased's spouse.
AB867,28,55 (b) An adult son or daughter of the deceased.
AB867,28,66 (c) A parent of the deceased.
AB867,28,77 (d) An adult brother or sister of the deceased.
AB867,28,88 (e) A person appointed as a representative of the deceased by the circuit court.
AB867,42 9Section 42. 979.01 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB867,28,11 10979.01 (title) Reporting deaths required; penalty; taking specimens by
11coroner or medical examiner
jurisdiction for investigating deaths.
AB867,43 12Section 43. 979.01 (1) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB867,28,2313 979.01 (1) (a) If a death occurs outside a hospital, physician's office, nursing
14home, or hospice, and is not required to be reported under par. (b) or (c), a law
15enforcement officer, health care provider, or funeral director who has knowledge of
16the death and any person who discovers the body or remains of a deceased individual
17shall immediately report the death to an appropriate law enforcement agency and
18to the coroner or medical examiner in the county in which the individual was
19pronounced dead or in which the deceased's body or remains were located except that
20a person who is required to report a death because he or she discovered a body or the
21remains of a deceased individual may report the death to a law enforcement officer
22in lieu of reporting the death to the coroner or medical examiner. Deaths that are
23required to be reported under this paragraph include all of the following:
AB867,28,2424 1. A death that involves unexplained, unusual, or suspicious circumstances.
AB867,28,2525 2. A death that the person has reason to believe is the result of a homicide.
AB867,29,1
13. A death that the person has reason to believe is the result of a suicide.
AB867,29,32 4. A death of a woman that is associated with an abortion, as defined in s. 253.10
3(2) (a).
AB867,29,74 5. A death, if the person has reason to believe that an injury or poisoning was
5a contributing cause of the death, whether or not the person has reason to believe
6that the injury or poisoning was the primary cause of the death and regardless of the
7interval between the injury or poisoning and the death.
AB867,29,98 6. A death that occurred when the individual was not under the care of a
9physician for the illness or condition that caused the death.
AB867,29,1310 7. A death, if after reasonable efforts, a physician cannot within 6 days after
11the pronouncement of death, or sooner under circumstances that the coroner or
12medical examiner determines to be an emergency, be obtained to sign the medical
13certification as required under s. 69.18 (2) (b) or (c).
AB867,29,1614 8. A death that the person has reason to believe is associated with the abuse
15of a chemical substance that may be legally used or with the use of a controlled
16substance, as defined in s. 961.01 (4).
AB867,29,2017 9. A death that the person has reason to believe is associated with an epidemic
18or pandemic, with the spread of a dangerous communicable disease, as defined by the
19department of health services, or with a disease-causing agent that may pose a
20threat to public health.
AB867,29,2321 (b) A law enforcement officer shall immediately report to the coroner or medical
22examiner in the county in which an individual was pronounced dead all of the
23following:
AB867,29,2524 1. A death that occurs while an individual is in the actual or constructive
25custody of a law enforcement officer.
AB867,30,2
12. A death of an individual that occurs during the pursuit of the individual by
2a law enforcement officer or otherwise involves a law enforcement officer.
AB867,30,73 3. A death that occurs while the individual is confined in a federal prison in this
4state, a state prison, county jail or house of correction, a juvenile correctional facility,
5as defined in s. 938.02 (10p), or a juvenile detention facility, as defined in s. 938.02
6(10r), or is otherwise incarcerated in the custody of the department or of a county
7sheriff.
AB867,30,118 (c) A facility where a deceased individual was being detained or
9institutionalized under s. 51.20, 971.14, or 971.17 or ch. 980 at the time of his or her
10death shall immediately report the death to the coroner or medical examiner in the
11county where the facility is located.
AB867,30,1412 (d) A health care provider shall immediately report a death that occurs in a
13physician's office, as defined in s. 460.01 (5), to the coroner or medical examiner in
14the county in which the physician's office is located.
AB867,30,1715 (e) A hospital shall immediately report to the coroner or medical examiner in
16the county in which the hospital is located a death that occurs at the hospital and
17satisfies any of the following conditions:
AB867,30,1818 1. The death occurred in the emergency department of the hospital.
AB867,30,2119 2. The death was not the result of a natural disease process. For purposes of
20this subdivision, deaths described in par. (a) 1. to 5., 8., and 9. are not considered to
21be the result of a natural disease process.
AB867,31,222 (f) A nursing home shall immediately report to the coroner or medical examiner
23in the county in which the nursing home is located a death that occurs at the nursing
24home and that the nursing home has reason to believe was not the result of a natural

1disease process. For purposes of this paragraph, deaths described in par. (a) 1. to 5.,
28., and 9. are not considered to be the result of a natural disease process.
AB867,31,53 (g) 1. A hospice shall report a death that occurred while an individual was
4receiving care from the hospice in accordance with the written policy created under
5subd. 2. that applies to the county in which the death occurred.
AB867,31,106 2. A coroner or medical examiner shall create and distribute to each hospice
7that operates in the county under his or her jurisdiction a written policy that
8describes the circumstances under which a hospice must report to the coroner or
9medical examiner a death that occurs while an individual is receiving care from the
10hospice.
AB867,44 11Section 44. 979.01 (1d) of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,31,1412 979.01 (1d) Notwithstanding sub. (1), no person specified in sub. (1) need
13report a death under sub. (1) if that person knows that another person specified in
14sub. (1) has already reported the death to a coroner or medical examiner.
AB867,45 15Section 45. 979.01 (1g) of the statutes is repealed and recreated to read:
AB867,31,1916 979.01 (1g) If discovery of a body or remains of a deceased individual is
17reported to law enforcement under sub. (1) but not to the coroner or medical
18examiner, the law enforcement officer shall immediately notify the coroner or the
19medical examiner of the county in which the body or human remains were located.
AB867,46 20Section 46. 979.01 (1i) of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,32,221 979.01 (1i) If a coroner or medical examiner is notified of a death under sub.
22(1) and determines that the death was caused by a crime, injury, trauma, or other
23event in a county other than the county in which the death was reported, the coroner
24or medical examiner shall notify an appropriate law enforcement agency and the

1coroner or medical examiner in the county in which the crime, injury, trauma, or
2other event is believed to have occurred.
AB867,47 3Section 47. 979.01 (1k) of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,32,84 979.01 (1k) (a) Except as provided in par. (b), if a death must be reported under
5sub. (1), the coroner or medical examiner in the county in which the crime, injury,
6trauma, or other event that caused the death occurred has jurisdiction to investigate
7the cause and manner of death including access to a death investigation scene and
8specimens necessary for death investigation.
AB867,32,149 (b) If there is reason to believe that a death that must be reported under sub.
10(1) was caused by a crime, injury, trauma, or other event that occurred outside this
11state, or if after reasonable efforts it cannot be determined where the crime, injury,
12trauma, or other event that caused the death occurred, the coroner or medical
13examiner in the county in which death is pronounced has jurisdiction to investigate
14the cause and manner of death.
AB867,48 15Section 48. 979.01 (1m) of the statutes is renumbered 979.01 (1m) (a) and
16amended to read:
AB867,32,2117 979.01 (1m) (a) The Except as provided in par. (b), the coroner or medical
18examiner receiving notification under sub. (1) or (1g) who has jurisdiction to
19investigate cause and manner of a death under this section
shall immediately, within
20a reasonable time after receiving notice of the death,
notify the district attorney for
21his or her county of the death
.
AB867,49 22Section 49. 979.01 (1m) (b) of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,32,2523 979.01 (1m) (b) Except as provided in s. 979.04 (2), the coroner or medical
24examiner is not required to notify the district attorney of any deaths for which the
25district attorney, in writing, waives notice.
AB867,50
1Section 50. 979.01 (1p) of the statutes is created to read:
AB867,33,32 979.01 (1p) A coroner or medical examiner who receives notice of a death under
3sub. (1), or his or her designee, shall notify the deceased's next of kin of the death.
AB867,51 4Section 51. 979.01 (1r) of the statutes is amended to read:
AB867,33,95 979.01 (1r) If the coroner or medical examiner is notified of a death under sub.
6(1) or (1g) and determines that his or her notification of the death was not required
7under sub. (1) or (1g),
the discovery of human remains under this section and
8determines that the human remains have no forensic significance,
he or she shall
9notify the director of the historical society under s. 157.70 (3).
AB867,52 10Section 52. 979.01 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 979.01 (2) (a) and
11amended to read:
AB867,33,1412 979.01 (2) (a) Unless s. 948.23 (1) (b) applies and except as provided in par. (b),
13any person who violates this section shall sub. (1) may be fined not more than $1,000
14or imprisoned not more than 90 days or both.
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