Sen. Doris Turner, Coroner Jim Allmon advocate for certified pathologist legal protections

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — Sen. Doris Turner hopes to pass a bill to protect certified pathologists from legal action.

The Springfield Democrat told reporters Thursday that her plan could require counties to indemnify and hold harmless physicians who perform autopsies.

Cook County is the only county in Illinois that currently provides this protection for pathologists. Turner noted that there are only three certified pathologists south of I-80. That means those professionals need to travel across large sections of the state to conduct autopsies for local coroners.

"We want to make sure that there is transparency," Turner said. "We want to make sure that there is a real opportunity for families to have some closure."

Turner and Sangamon County Coroner Jim Allmon said this change could help address the critical shortage of pathologists across the state.

"They are supposed to operate independently. They're a non-biased stand alone entity," Allmon said. "We want an honest opinion by the highly-trained forensic pathologist of why that person died and we don't want those waters to be muddied at all."

Senate Bill 2779 passed unanimously out of the Senate Executive Committee Wednesday night. The proposal was heard on second reading Thursday and could be up for a vote Friday.