EDMOND — Lt. Gov. Jari Askins has warned against a proposal Gov. Brad Henry made this week to merge the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation headquarters in Edmond. Henry also proposed merging the Bureau of Narcotics with the OSBI.
The ME’s office is just one of 16 state agencies Henry wants to consolidate in order to save the state $5.3 million, said Paul Sund, Henry’s communications director.
“The Medical Examiner, I want us to be careful about,” Askins said Wednesday while addressing the Edmond Rotary. “As a former judge I think it’s important that all medical testimony that comes in needs to be indepenent of any kind of influence or perceived influence that an investigative agency may have tainted or tilted the results.”
Askins is one of four announced candidates running for governor. Attorney General Drew Edmondson is the only other Democrat vying for the state’s top post. State Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, and U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Edmond, are in the race.
Askins said she believes the investigative independence of the ME’s office is perceived as being without bias. From an accredidation standpoint, she said other states are pushing to have separate and independent laboratories.
“There are issues in my opinion about how that relates to evidence presented in court that are far greater than how much money you’d save by combining them,” Askins said.
Police Chief Bob Ricks agreed with Askins that the medical examiner’s office should remain as an independent entity.
Askins chaired the legislative committee to bring the OSBI Forensic Science Center to Edmond in 2007.
“I really love that we are creating a forensics campus that I think gives a lot of strength and credibility to the program UCO can provide,” Askins said. “And then to have the OSBI Lab right across the street is fantastic.”
Mayor Patrice Douglas said the City of Edmond fully supports legislation to move the medical examiner’s office to Edmond.
“I’m certain UCO would like it on their campus,” she said. “We want to support them and be in lock-step with them, but the bottom line is the ME’s office needs to be in Edmond.”
House Speaker Chris Benge and Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee are co-authors of Senate Bill 738. This bill would require the ME’s office to be located in close proximity to the OSBI Forensic Science Center and the UCO Forensic Science Institute.
The University of Central Oklahoma is ready and willing if the state Legislature chooses to move the office to Edmond.
“Working to bring the State Medical Examiner’s Office to Edmond would create a unique presence of laboratories and forensic specialty facilities to compliment the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Forensic Science Center and the UCO Forensic Science Institute,” said Roger Webb, UCO president.
The ME’s office lost its accreditation with the National Association of Medical Examiners in 2008. A report issued by the association noted the deficiencies result from an inadequate staff due to a lack of funding and an obsolete facility.
Chief Medical Examiner Collie M. Trant told The Edmond Sun in August that he supports a new facility for the ME’s office to be constructed on the UCO campus.
The current building would need to be demolished before construction could begin on a quality facility at its present location at 901 N. Stonewall on the campus of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Trant said.
Meanwhile, Trant was placed on paid administrative leave Monday by the ME’s governing board. The Board of Medicolegal Investigations is looking into concerns raised during a closed executive session, said Cherokee Ballard, spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s Office. Details of the investigation have not been disclosed.
“We don’t know what the next step will be,” Ballard said.
jcoburn@edmondsun.com | 341-2121, ext. 114
Local News
Related Photos
-
JAMES COBURN | THE EDMOND SUN Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, a Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to the Edmond Rotary Club Wednesday. JAMES COBURN |
Discussion
Askins leery of ME’s move
- Local News
-
-
Edmond family takes to cycles
It’s got a daunting name — the Hotter’n Hell Hundred — but an Edmond bicycling family was up to the challenge.
The event, put on last month during just about the hottest time of year, starts in Wichita Falls and winds along a 100-mile route through Wichita County and Clay County in north Texas before ending back in Wichita Falls. The rolling course includes some long inclines accentuated by incessant wind. -
PSC Panel to produce report
A panel exploring the scope and scale of a new Public Safety Center in Edmond will be drafting a report it will review later this month.
Members of the Subcommittee for Review of Scope and Scale of the proposed Public Safety Center met Wednesday afternoon and discussed options for the project without knowing the actual price tag. -
Commission delays rezoning request
The Edmond Planning Commission delayed a rezoning request Tuesday after several residents voiced concerns about the flow of information.
The request would rezone a 20-acre parcel west of Santa Fe Avenue, north of the Homestead addition and Santa Fe Presbyterian Church from single family to allow offices and retail. -
Golf event to raise funds for lupus
The second annual “Friends of Lynn” Golf Tournament, in memory of Lynn Dunagan, will again swing into action at KickingBird Golf Club on Sept. 17.
All proceeds from the tournament will go directly to the Oklahoma chapter of the Lupus Foundation of America. -
Schools announce bond issue items
At Tuesday night’s Edmond School Board meeting, the 2010 Bond Planning Document was presented totaling $29.9 million, with the largest monied item, a competitive pool, coming in at $10 million.
Associate Superintendent of District Operations Bret Towne said $15 million in funds were freed up because an elementary school originally planned to be built in 2011 has been put on hold. -
Edmond Elks honor MIA soldier, daughter
The Edmond Elks honored the late U.S. Army Chief Warrent Officer Donald Lynn Wann at a memorial ceremony at the lodge on Tuesday.
-
Panel explores funding options for Edmond Police station
A potential December 2011 sales tax election, the pursuit of federal dollars and other ideas were floated Wednesday by a panel exploring funding options for a Public Safety Center in Edmond.
-
UCO names top freshmen
University of Central Oklahoma students Billy Elles of Edmond and Susan Phares of Fort Gibson recently received the male and female Freshman Scholastic Award for 2009-10 for their hard work and dedication to carry the heaviest workload during their first full year at Central.
-
Setting goals pays off for Memorial students
Visiting all seven continents may not be on the bucket list for most people, but one Memorial High School senior has recently accomplished this goal he set for himself in middle school.
Dillon Duke and his sister, Lana, a freshman at Memorial, recently returned from South Africa where they were ambassadors with the People to People Student Ambassador program started in 1956 by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. -
Council to vote on water rate plan
City Council members will soon vote on water and wastewater rate increases needed to complete planned capital improvements in Edmond’s water system.
On Sept. 27, during the City Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting, members are expected to vote on a resolution to increase water and wastewater rates for five years, starting in November. - More Local News Headlines
-
