Rating: –1

Bill Summary:

Senate Bill 1101 comprehensively revises Idaho’s laws governing county coroners and medicolegal death investigations. It updates definitions for terms like “autopsy,” “forensic pathologist,” and “medicolegal death investigator,” and expands the list of circumstances under which a coroner must investigate a death. The bill creates formal requirements for continuing education and certification of coroners and establishes procedures for autopsies, jurisdictional authority, and professional conduct.

The legislation prohibits most coroners from simultaneously owning or operating funeral homes, introduces new procedures for notifying next of kin in the case of autopsies involving minors, and funds coroner training through a fee on death certificates. The State Board of Medicine is authorized to develop and administer a certification program for coroners, and the bill includes an emergency clause, making it effective July 1, 2025.

Reason for Rating:

S1101 receives a negative rating because it significantly expands government authority, imposes new state-level mandates, and increases regulatory burdens on county officials—all of which contradict the Idaho Republican Party Platform’s emphasis on limited government and local control. The bill centralizes power in the hands of state-certified coroners, mandates extensive training and bureaucratic compliance, and removes discretion from local officials. It creates a taxpayer-backed pipeline for ongoing state certification, funded by death certificate fees, and increases state entanglement in what should be local administrative matters. Despite aiming to professionalize coroner practices, the bill grows bureaucracy and restricts local autonomy, earning a negative rating.