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
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JAMES COBURN | THE EDMOND SUN Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, a Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to the Edmond Rotary Club Wednesday. JAMES COBURN |
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