An Act to amend 59.365 (3) (a) of the statutes; Relating to: fees charged for certain coroner or medical examiner services. (FE)
Summary
SB358 amends Wisconsin law governing fees charged for certain coroner or medical examiner services. Specifically, it changes a narrow statutory provision that applies when a local board transitions from coroner or lay medical examiner services to physician medical examiner services through an intergovernmental cooperation agreement. Under the bill, the relevant transition window is updated from one that ended in 2016 to one that extends through December 1, 2024.
The bill preserves the authority for such a board to make a one-time increase in two fees: the fee for signing a death record and the fee for issuing a cremation permit. In both cases, the board may set the fee up to $100 above the amount that was in effect on April 17, 2015. The bill also continues to allow those fees to be established without regard to changes in the consumer price index.
Impact
The bill makes a targeted amendment to s. 59.365 (3) (a), Wisconsin Statutes, expanding the class of local governments eligible to use the special fee-setting authority for coroner or medical examiner services. Its practical effect is to authorize certain counties or boards that converted to physician medical examiner services after December 1, 2024, to impose the same one-time fee increases for death record signing and cremation permits that earlier-transitioning boards could use. The bill affects local government fee authority, death record administration, and cremation permitting, but does not broadly alter statewide coroner or medical examiner law.
Sentiment
The available record suggests little overt controversy or debate around the bill. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes in the provided materials, and the bill was enacted and published as 2025 Wisconsin Act 62. The absence of recorded opposition, combined with the narrow and technical nature of the amendment, suggests the measure was generally treated as a routine administrative update.
Contention
The main policy issue embedded in the bill is the extension of special fee authority to a later group of local boards that adopt physician medical examiner services. Any concern would likely center on whether allowing higher fees for death records and cremation permits could increase costs for families or funeral-related services, versus the need to fund the transition to a physician medical examiner system. Because no committee discussion or vote record is provided, no specific legislator, stakeholder, or formal opposition can be identified from the supplied materials.