Consolidation bill passes state Senate committee
By John Greiner
Capitol Bureau
Senate Republican leader Glenn Coffee's bills to streamline state government cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee today.
Senate Bill 1698 would merge the Criminal Justice Resource Center with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
The resource center operates under the Legislative Service Bureau and gathers data on criminal sentencing for the Oklahoma Sentencing Commission.
Senate Bill 1709 by Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, would put the office of the medical examiner into the OSBI.
Coffee said many states have their medical examiner operations under state law enforcement agencies.
Coffee also won approval from the Appropriations Committee for Senate bill 1865 to create the Office of Accountability and Innovation within the Legislative Service Bureau.
The new office would conduct regular performance audits of agencies, recommend the best practices for improving efficiencies in government, review the effectiveness of tax incentives and bring new innovations to government, Coffee said.
Merging the office of the medical examiner with the OSBI would free the chief medical examiner from day-to-day administrative duties, Coffee said.
Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said he was concerned that the merger might create a reason for jurors to question the veracity of medical examiner evidence if it were placed under the OSBI.
He said he in no way questions the integrity of the OSBI.
The bills now go to the full Senate.
David Prater Statement:
Clearly there needs to be clarification. The statement I gave to Mr. Greiner was "I am concerned that a merger might create a reason for jurors to question the veracity of medical examiner evidence if it were placed under any law enforcement agency." That was my testimony before Senator Coffee's committee this morning (2/20/08) and Senator Coffee knows that. I clearly stated that I strongly support the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and believe them to be a fine law enforcement agency, but I do not believe this merger is prudent.