SB 729 - This act increases various fines and fees that can be fined or charged during a coroner's inquest. The fine that may be charged to a sheriff for failing to execute a warrant summoning jurors in order to investigate a death has been increased from $8 to $500.
Jurors who fail to appear without a reasonable excuse may be fined $500, rather than $5 under current law.
Currently, a coroner can fine a witness who fails to appear before the inquest no more than $10. This act increases the fine to no more than $1,000.
Various fees for coroner services are also increased, including the mileage fee to go view a dead body which is increased from $.08 per mile to $.25 per mile.
When the coroner is a physician and the county commission requires an examination to determine the cause of death, then the coroner may be paid an amount not exceeding $500, rather than $25.
The coroner is allowed to charge $1 for every hundred words of testimony recorded during the inquest, rather than $.10 for every hundred words.
JESSI JAMES