Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of HR0013

HR0013 LRB104 06387 ECR 16423 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois recognizes that coroners play an essential role in not only the investigation of deaths and the compassionate notification of families of deceased persons but also in saving lives through tracking patterns of deaths and coordination with organ procurement agencies; and

WHEREAS, Coroners, as elected officials, are not required to have any medical or death investigatory experience and come from a variety of different professional backgrounds and skill sets that provide them with varying levels of expertise related to their position; and

WHEREAS, The Coroner Training Board was established in large part to create and maintain minimum standards for coroner training, provide appropriate certifications, and review and approve training curriculums for all coroners; and

WHEREAS, The Coroner Training Board is currently comprised of five members, four of which were appointed in 2016 and are currently serving on expired terms; and

WHEREAS, The Coroner Training Board website is filled with broken links and, of all of their reported board meetings since January 1, 2022, meetings have lasted on average just 37 minutes, with no meeting lasting longer than one hour; and

WHEREAS, The Coroner Training Board received $460,000 for operations, including the development and implementation of training opportunities in the FY25 budget, and collects supplemental fees from coroners who attend training opportunities; and

WHEREAS, New coroners, regardless of their backgrounds or expertise, are only required to attend a 40-hour basic training course once elected; and

WHEREAS, Some coroner offices within Illinois have sought additional memberships and training support from national organizations, such as the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators, to improve overall training quality for themselves and their staffs; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we direct the Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois Coroner Training Board's administration of the Coroner Training Board Act, including its creation, implementation, and execution of basic and continuing education training for coroners; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we urge the Illinois Coroner Training Board and any other State agency, entity, or person that may have information relevant to this audit to cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's Office in its conduct of this audit; and be it further

RESOLVED, That we direct the Auditor General to commence this audit as soon as possible and report his findings and recommendations upon completion in accordance with the provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the Auditor General and the Illinois Coroner Training Board.