State Representative John Voss introduces new bill to add new qualifications for coroners in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KBSI) – State Representative John Voss is sponsoring House Bill 2777, which he introduced on Wednesday.

This bill would add two levels of technical qualifications to become a coroner in the state of Missouri.

The first of those qualifications is emergency medical technician, or EMT, certification or training so that the person has a deep understanding of anatomy and how the human body works.

The second of the qualifications would be having certification in death investigation so that the person can identify the manner and method in which a person passed away.

Currently there are no technical qualifications to become a coroner in Missouri.

Voss said this legislation would help ensure the most qualified people possible are in coroner positions.

“Citizens deserve to know that the person they’ve elected into office is competent and has the knowledge to fulfill those duties to the best of their abilities, so dual certification with an EMT training as well as a death investigation certification, I think are just common-sense technical qualifications that every coroner in the state of Missouri should have,” Voss said.

Voss is optimistic about getting bipartisan support for this bill and welcomes questions and feedback from his colleagues about how to make the bill as strong as possible.

He said he hopes to have a public hearing on the bill by the end of March.