DN MASKE SPETH KRAUSS LD 1

Faruk Presswalla, seen here in a 1997 file photo, was New Jersey's last confirmed state medical examiner, having left the post in 2003. In 2009, Victor Weedn, the acting state medical examiner at the time, resigned in protest over what he said was a lack of support from the Division of Criminal Justice. He role has been vacant entirely since then. (Rich Krauss | The Star-Ledger)

The Northern Regional Medical Examiner's Office

For years, the state legislature has paid little attention to the state medical examiner's system.

That may be about to change.

"I think that it's important that this system be revised," said state Sen. Chris "Kip" Bateman (R-Somerset). "We're hearing horror stories about medical examiner's offices, and about delays in getting results. I would think reform could only help the system."

A state's chief medical examiner typically serves as an advocate for the dead -- providing expertise and oversight, and helping resolve disputes over how lives end.

But in the Garden State, former medical examiners and other critics say the position is toothless. They say it has no meaningful authority over a network county and regional medical examiners, leaving the door open for botched autopsies. And the state position has been empty for years, though Gov. Chris Christie nominated Andrew Falzon for the role earlier this month.

But legislation proposed by state Sen. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) and Bateman would give a chief state medical examiner "explicit supervisory authority over the entire medical examiner system," able to intervene in any medical investigations undertaken for a legal purpose in the state.

"We need a level of oversight and transparency that doesn't currently exist," Vitale said.

A chance at change?

The proposed legislation would address many of the concerns critics have raised to NJ Advance Media.

The ME would set the standards for a statewide system and the state toxicology laboratory. The office would be moved from the state Attorney General's office to the the Department of Health, making it more independent of criminal investigations.

The state ME would develop a standard protocol for investigating sudden infant deaths. Except in homicides, there'd be an appeals process for "persons of interest" to request a correction on a death certificate.

Related: Will the new state medical examiner have a toothless job?

But this isn't the first such bill Vitale has attempted to bring through the legislature. Since Gov. John Corzine's administration, Vitale has brought forth variations of the bill before the Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee.

The governor-appointed Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board has been pushing change for 15 years. Adam Guziejewski, spokesperson for the New Jersey Funeral Directors Association, said his group first began talking about reform of the ME system with Vitale in 2008.

When the funeral directors tried to engage Gov. Chris Christie's administration on the issue in 2011, the association found the administration "was not ready to have the conversation," Guziejewski said.

Laurie McCabe, Vitale's legislative director, said the overhaul also hasn't been a priority for either the legislature or the administration. She said the funeral directors association ended up asking the senator to hold back on the bill until reform had an "administration buy-in" because "you want to make sure when you get to the goal line it actually gets done."

And so, the bill has never made it out of committee.

Sheridan deaths draw attention

Mark Sheridan, the former lawyer for the state Republican party, and his brothers are among those who have vocally criticized the medical examiner system. The four sons of John and Joyce Sheridan have vehemently disputed authorities' determination that Cooper Health CEO John Sheridan stabbed their mother to death in their Skillman home before killing himself last September.

Mark Sheridan and his brothers have pointed to basic mistakes over their father's height and age in an autopsy conducted by Eddy Lilavois, the medical examiner at the Northern Regional Medical Examiner's Office. Articles since by NJ Advance Media and others have examined the system overall.

Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union). Scutari, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary, issued a statement on June 18 supporting reform of the state medical examiner's office following "reports of very serious problems within the state Medical Examiner's Office" such as "a lack of leadership, to inadequate resources and staffing to a failure to meet accepted professional standards such as office accreditation and employee board certification."

Related: One of N.J.'s largest medical examiner offices failed accreditation, but does it matter?

Still, Vitale said the major stumbling block is cost.

The Office of Legislative Services has estimated $2 million in upfront administrative costs -- primarily consultant fees and additional staff -- to make a transition. Those costs, he said, might be pared down, but it would mean a longer transition period.

"We could make some changes to the bill to remove the appropriation element," Vitale said. "What we need is oversight, transparency and accountability to take (the system) from what it is today to what it will be tomorrow."

Money matters

There's another financial issue: Even though the chief medical examiner would have a role in hiring county MEs, in conjunction with those counties; and the chief could remove a county medical examiner for cause.

But the state wouldn't be picking up the tab for counties. They'd still be responsible for paying for their own MEs and offices.

"If the state wants to take it over and pay for it, that's fine," said John Donnadio, executive director of the New Jersey Association of Counties. "But that's not the case with this bill."

But he said the counties are "always willing to sit down and come up with realistic ways to make the system better."

Vitale said the bill wasn't trying to "remove anyone's authority."

"We're trying to create a medical examiner system that works for everyone," he said.

Both Bateman and Vitale said they expected the bill to receive a hearing in committee this fall, but they acknowledged it's still a long road before any reform takes place.

The governor's office has declined to comment on the proposed legislation.

Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.