Employment of Medicolegal Death Investigators

(a)The Office of Post-Mortem Examinations/Chief Medical Examiner may employ registered and certified medicolegal death investigators. Medicolegal death investigators are employees that aid in the investigations that determine the cause of death of deceased persons.

(b)The Department of Administration, consistent with the provisions of Chapter 6, Title 4, Guam Code Annotated, shall develop job descriptions and pay grades for positions described in Subsection (a), supra. Such job descriptions shall be consistent with those recommended by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI) or its successors and the recommendations of Office of PostMortem Examinations/Chief Medical Examiner. Such positions shall be created within the merit system and the classified service of the government of Guam.

(c)The Office of Post-Mortem Examinations/Chief Medical Examiner may petition the Department of Administration to develop any additional standards that might be necessary for medicolegal death investigators, beyond those recommended by the ABMDI.

(1)Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, persons appointed as a medicolegal death investigator shall:

(A)be a resident of Guam and a U.S. citizen;

(B)be of good health and good moral character;

(C)be over the age of eighteen

(18)years;

(D)be a high school graduate or equivalent; and

(E)submit to and pass a drug screening test, including, but not limited to, a urinalysis test.

(2)No person shall be appointed as a medicolegal death investigator who has been convicted in any civilian or military court of a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, a crime of domestic or family violence, or who has been administratively pardoned of any crime.

(3)No person shall be appointed as a medicolegal death investigator before a thorough investigation of the applicant’s background and moral character is completed.

(d)In the event that there are no applicants that meet the minimum knowledge, abilities and skills to be registered or certified medicolegal death investigators, the Office of Post-Mortem Examinations/Chief Medical Examiner may employ candidates as interns, with compensation, while completing the training and experience necessary to meet the minimum requirements for employment. The Office of Post-Mortem Examinations/Chief Medical Examiner shall determine the length of internship programs. Internships are limited term appointments until such time the intern is either hired as a medicolegal death investigator or terminated.