Contentious merger pushed

by: BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
2/21/2008  12:00 AM

A measure would combine the state Medical Examiner's Office and the OSBI.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- A Senate panel passed a measure Wednesday that would merge the state Medical Examiner's Office with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, despite concerns that such a move could hurt criminal prosecutions.

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater told the Senate Appropriations Committee that he thinks the Medical Examiner's Office should be independent of another agency.

Prosecutors would start with a strike against them at trial if the Medical Examin er's Office was under another law enforcement agency and jurors wondered about the medical examiner's independence, Prater said.

Senate Bill 1709 by Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee 10-6.

Coffee said, "I'm very disappointed that so much of the criticism of this proposal seems to impugn the integrity and professionalism of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and calls into question OSBI's ability to provide fair and impartial oversight of the chief medical examiner."

Another bill by Coffee, SB 1698, would merge most of the functions of the Criminal Justice Resource Center into the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. The panel passed SB 1698 by a 13-3 vote.

The committee also passed a measure that would create an Office of Accountability and Innovation within the Legislative Service Bureau. SB 1865, also by Coffee, calls for the newly created entity to conduct regular performance audits of agencies and review the effectiveness of tax incentives, among other things. It would have an initial cost of about $1 million. SB 1865 passed the committee 16-0.

The committee also approved SB 1870 by Sen. Mike Johnson, R-Kingfisher, which would remove the 3 percent growth trigger on additional funding for roads and bridges. The move would result in $50 million in new funding for transportation.

A similar measure, SB 1396 by Sen. Brian Bingman, R-Sapulpa, also passed. That bill would remove the growth trigger and also would redi rect existing motor vehicle taxes from the general revenue fund to roads and bridges over a five-year period.

Bills passed by the Appropriations Committee are headed to the full Senate.

The House General Government and Transportation Committee, meanwhile, passed House Bill 2551 by Rep. Guy Liebmann, R-Oklahoma City, which would remove the revenue growth trigger, as well. Without the trigger's removal, roads would get $17.5 million.

Meanwhile, the Senate Rules Committee killed Senate Joint Resolution 33 by Sen. Randy Brogdon, R-Owasso, which called for a public vote on setting term limits for statewide elected officials, except for the governor, who already is term-limited.