SB582: SB582 Coroners; the pronouncement of death by paramedics and emergency medical technicians; authorize

Under current Georgia law, coroners and county medical examiners (O.C.G.A. Title 45, Chapter 16) can delegate certain death-investigation duties to local medical examiners, forensic consultants, or other qualified medical personnel, including in limited cases involving highway accidents. This bill adds paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to the list of people who can be authorized to pronounce someone dead, but only when a coroner or medical examiner has specifically delegated that power to them. The bill also updates Georgia's general death-pronouncement law (O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16) to match this change, adding paramedics and EMTs to the list of professionals, alongside physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, who can legally pronounce death. It keeps existing legal protections in place, so anyone who pronounces death in good faith under these rules cannot be sued or criminally prosecuted for doing so.

• Adds paramedics and emergency medical technicians to the list of people a coroner or county medical examiner may delegate death-pronouncement duties to.
• Limits this new authority so paramedics and EMTs can only pronounce death when a coroner or medical examiner has specifically delegated that power to them.
• Updates Georgia's general death-pronouncement statute (O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16) to recognize paramedics and EMTs alongside physicians, nurses, and physician assistants.
• Keeps existing legal immunity in place, protecting anyone who pronounces death in good faith from civil lawsuits or criminal charges.
• Repeals any existing laws that conflict with these changes.

Paramedics and emergency medical technicians, coroners and county medical examiners who oversee them, hospitals and emergency medical services, and families or law enforcement involved in death investigations across Georgia.

In situations where a physician or other authorized professional is not immediately available, paramedics and EMTs with delegated authority could legally pronounce someone dead at the scene, potentially speeding up death determinations while keeping oversight tied to a coroner's or medical examiner's approval.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 45-16-23 to add a new paragraph (3) authorizing paramedics and EMTs to pronounce death only when a coroner or medical examiner has delegated that authority.
• Section 1 retains existing rules letting coroners delegate duties to local medical examiners, forensic consultants, or medical examiner's investigators, and in highway accident cases causing major traffic disruption.
• Section 1 keeps the existing good-faith immunity from civil and criminal liability for people who perform these delegated duties.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 31-10-16 to add paramedics and EMTs authorized under O.C.G.A. § 45-16-23 to the list of people who can pronounce death based on irreversible loss of circulatory, respiratory, or brain function.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.

1. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-25Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)Primary sponsor
• John Albers (R, SD-056)

• coroners
• emergency medical services
• death pronouncement
• public health law
• medical liability