HB1557

House Bill 1557 amends Arkansas law regarding the confidentiality of records created during a coroner's investigation. Under the current law, these records are confidential until the coroner issues a final report. This bill expands these confidentiality requirements when a death is subject to an open and ongoing law enforcement investigation or criminal trial. In such cases, the coroner's reports and related investigative files remain exempt from the Freedom of Information Act until the law enforcement investigation concludes. Additionally, the bill mandates that any records received by a coroner from the State Crime Laboratory are privileged and confidential, subject to the same disclosure exceptions applied to the Crime Laboratory.