---
title: SB 546. Death Investigations; include microscopic and toxicology studies and immunization records in the investigation of a sudden and unexpected death of a child; require coroner and medical examiners
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb546
cite_as: SB 546, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb546
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb546.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb546/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73479
date: 2026-02-24
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb546.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 546
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-20
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Ricky Williams
- Greg Dolezal
- Lee Anderson
- Marty Harbin
- Brian Strickland
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB546/2025
upstream_id: 2121455
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- child death investigations
- coroners and medical examiners
- vaccination records
- public health privacy
- infant mortality
---
# SB 546. Death Investigations; include microscopic and toxicology studies and immunization records in the investigation of a sudden and unexpected death of a child; require coroner and medical examiners
## Text
Senate Bill 546
By: Senators Williams of the 25th, Dolezal of the 27th, Anderson of the 24th, Harbin of the
16th and Strickland of the 42nd
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to death investigations, so as to require coroners and medical examiners to include
microscopic and toxicology studies and immunization records in the investigation of a
sudden and unexpected death of a child; to amend Code Section 31-12-3.1 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vaccination registry, reporting requirements,
maintenance, and use of information, so as to allow coroners and medical examiners to
access vaccination records; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for
other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
death investigations, is amended by revising Code Section 45-16-32, relating to report of
examination and investigation, maintenance of copies, verification of foul play by forensic
laboratory, and transmittal of copies of reports to district attorneys, as follows:
"45-16-32.
The medical examiner and coroner shall complete a report of each medical examiner's
inquiry and coroner's investigation and shall maintain permanent records of such reports.
The coroner or county medical examiner may file all original reports with the clerk of the
superior court of the county. In cases where such report indicates a suspicion of foul play,
the medical examiner and peace officer in charge shall transmit any specimens, samples,
or other evidence to a forensic laboratory for analysis. In cases where reports indicating
foul play are verified by the forensic laboratory, the laboratory shall provide a completed
lab report to the appropriate prosecuting attorney where the acts or events leading to the
death occurred. In the case of an infant or child whose death is unexpected or unexplained,
the report of each medical examiner's inquiry and coroner's investigation shall include
microscopic and toxicology studies, a review of the child's immunization and medical
records, and any immunizations or emergency countermeasures administered to the child
within 90 days before the child's death."
SECTION 2.
Code Section 31-12-3.1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to vaccination
registry and reporting requirements, maintenance, and use of information, is amended by
revising subsection (e) as follows;
"(e)(1) Unless such person has opted out pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection,
individually identifiable vaccination information regarding a person may be provided to
the department by, or released by the department to:
(A) A health department, hospital, physician, or other provider of medical services to
the person;
(B) A school or child care facility in which the person is enrolled if the person is 18
years of age or younger; or
(C) The United States Department of Health and Human Services and its subsidiaries
through a data use agreement, for the limited purpose of reporting vaccines
administered in response to a public health emergency declared pursuant to Code
Section 38-3-51, for the purpose of averting a serious and imminent threat to life and
safety, so long as the United States Department of Health and Human Services and its
subsidiaries adhere to state and federal privacy laws and so long as a person's name is
not provided by the department; or
(D) A coroner or medical examiner conducting an inquiry or report pursuant to Code
Section 45-16-32
without the consent of the person or the person's parents or guardians.
(2) Any person or person's parent or guardian if the person is 18 years of age or younger
may request an exemption from enrollment in the state-wide vaccine registry. All
persons shall be enrolled unless a specific exemption is requested by the person or the
person's parent or guardian if the person is 18 years of age or younger. A parent or
guardian may obtain and upon request to the department shall be provided with all
individually identifiable vaccination registry information regarding his or her child or
ward. Except as provided otherwise by this Code section, individually identifiable
vaccination registry information shall be treated as confidential and shall not be released
to a third party without consent of the person or the person's parent or guardian if the
person is 18 years of age or younger."
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
A Georgia Senate bill would require coroners and medical examiners to run microscopic and toxicology tests and review immunization records when investigating the sudden, unexpected death of an infant or child, and would let them access the state vaccine registry for that purpose.
### Plain-language summary
Under current Georgia law, coroners and medical examiners investigate sudden deaths and file reports, but the law does not specifically require extra testing or an immunization review when the person who died is a child. This bill changes that by adding a requirement to O.C.G.A. § 45-16-32: whenever an infant or child dies unexpectedly or without explanation, the investigation report must include microscopic and toxicology studies, a review of the child's immunization and medical records, and a check of any vaccines or emergency treatments given within 90 days before the death.
To make that review possible, the bill also amends Georgia's vaccination registry law (O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3.1) to add coroners and medical examiners to the list of people who can receive individually identifiable vaccination information without the deceased person's or family's consent, specifically for these death investigations. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.
### What it does
- Requires coroners and medical examiners investigating the sudden or unexplained death of an infant or child to include microscopic and toxicology studies in their report.
- Requires those investigators to review the child's immunization and medical records as part of the same investigation.
- Requires the report to note any immunizations or emergency medical countermeasures given to the child in the 90 days before death.
- Amends the state vaccination registry law so coroners and medical examiners can access individually identifiable vaccination records without consent for these investigations.
### Who it affects
Coroners and medical examiners across Georgia, the Department of Public Health which runs the vaccination registry, and families of infants or children who die suddenly or unexpectedly, since their child's medical and immunization history would become part of the official death investigation.
### Why it matters
Families and investigators would get a more thorough look at what happened before a child's unexpected death, including whether recent vaccines or treatments played any role, because the law would require specific tests and records checks that are not currently mandatory in every case.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 45-16-32 to add a new requirement for cases involving the unexpected or unexplained death of an infant or child.
- The new language requires microscopic and toxicology studies, a review of immunization and medical records, and documentation of any immunizations or emergency countermeasures given within 90 days of death.
- Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-12-3.1(e) to add coroners and medical examiners as a category that can receive vaccination registry information without the person's or family's consent, specifically for investigations under Section 45-16-32.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-20)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-24)
- Sponsors: Ricky Williams, Greg Dolezal, Lee Anderson, Marty Harbin, Brian Strickland
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73479
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb546.md?full=1