Tennessee House Bill HB1813

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/21/26
• Refer: 2/2/26
• Refer: 2/18/26
• Refer: 3/11/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 38, Chapter 7, relative to autopsies.

Summary

HB1813 amends Tennessee law governing autopsies ordered by a district attorney general. Under current law, the county medical examiner is involved in carrying out such autopsies; this bill clarifies that when the district attorney general orders an autopsy, the county medical examiner must notify the chief medical examiner and may either perform the autopsy or designate and authorize a pathologist to do so under existing statutory procedures. The bill also specifies that the costs and expenses of the autopsy are to be paid by the state as other state-chargeable costs are paid. The measure is limited to Title 38, Chapter 7 of the Tennessee Code Annotated and is set to take effect on July 1, 2026. In practical terms, it shifts or confirms state responsibility for funding certain autopsies ordered in criminal investigations and reinforces the administrative chain of notification and authorization within the medical examiner system.

Impact

The bill would amend Tennessee’s autopsy statutes by revising Section 38-7-109(b) to clarify the roles of the county medical examiner and chief medical examiner when a district attorney general orders an autopsy. It also makes the state responsible for paying the costs and expenses of those autopsies, which affects state finances and the procedures used by county medical examiners, pathologists, and district attorneys in death investigations.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad support and little controversy. The bill received unanimous favorable votes in both the House Public Service Subcommittee and the House State & Local Government Committee, with no recorded opposition in either vote. No committee transcript concerns are available, but the vote pattern indicates the measure was viewed as a routine administrative and funding clarification rather than a contentious policy change.

Contention

No specific points of contention are documented in the available materials. The only potentially sensitive issue is fiscal responsibility, since the bill requires the state to pay autopsy costs that arise when a district attorney general orders an autopsy. Any debate would likely center on state reimbursement, the division of authority between county and state medical examiners, and the operational impact on county forensic services, but no opposition is reflected in the recorded votes.