STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8801
IN SENATE
January 8, 2026
___________
Introduced by Sen. BASKIN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules
AN ACT to amend the county law, in relation to permitting local health
officials to request copies of certain reports and records
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 9 of section 677 of the county law, as amended
2 by a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the county law relating to
3 permitting the commissioner of health to designate local health offi-
4 cials to request copies of certain reports and records, as proposed in
5 legislative bills numbers S. 7818 and A. 7411, is amended to read as
6 follows:
7 9. (a) When required for official purposes of the state department of
8 health, the state commissioner of health or their designee may request
9 copies of all reports and records related to a death, including, but not
10 limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports. Upon receipt of the
11 written request of the state commissioner of health or their designee, a
12 coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, shall, within three
13 business days of their completion, provide to such commissioner or their
14 designee a copy of all reports and records, including, but not limited
15 to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports related to the death. [For
16 the purposes of this section, the designee of the commissioner of health
17 may include a local health official.]
18 (b) When required for official purposes of a health district as
19 defined in section two of the public health law, the local health offi-
20 cer of such district may request copies of all reports and records
21 related to a death, including, but not limited to, autopsy reports and
22 toxicology reports when: (i) a death occurs within the local health
23 district in which the local health official exercises jurisdiction; or
24 (ii) a death occurs outside the local health district in which the local
25 health officer exercises jurisdiction, provided that the decedent was a
26 resident of such local health district when they:
27 (1) sustained a physical injury or toxicological exposure that was a
28 direct or contributing cause of death;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10745-02-6
S. 8801 2
1 (2) received significant medical care or treatment for the disease or
2 condition leading to death; or
3 (3) were pronounced dead or the body was found.
4 (c) Upon receipt of the written request of the local health officer, a
5 coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, shall:
6 (i) when such death has occurred within the local health district in
7 which the requesting local health officer exercises jurisdiction,
8 provide to such local health officer a copy of all reports and records,
9 including, but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports
10 related to the death within three days of their completion; or
11 (ii) when such death has occurred outside of the local health district
12 in which the requesting local health officer exercises jurisdiction,
13 provide to such local health officer a copy of all reports and records,
14 including but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports
15 related to the death within the earlier of (1) seven days of their
16 completion; or (2) seven days of receiving such written request; and
17 (iii) maintain such documents as part of the official case record.
18 (d) The requesting local health officer shall maintain a log of all
19 requests made outside of their local health district and shall, within
20 three business days of making the request, provide a copy of the written
21 request to the local health officer with jurisdiction over the local
22 health district from which the records were requested.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect on the same date and in the same
24 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2025 amending the county law relating
25 to permitting the commissioner of health to designate local health offi-
26 cials to request copies of certain reports and records, as proposed in
27 legislative bills numbers S. 7818 and A. 7411, takes effect.
