Medical Examiner's Office Faces Thorough Review

Staff and Wire Reports

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Gov. Brad Henry tapped Health Commissioner Terry Cline Wednesday to lead a top-to-bottom review of the embattled Office of the Chief Medical Examiner less than a week after the board that administers the agency fired its chief.

Henry said the dismissal of Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Collie M. Trant on Friday after less than a year on the job plunged the agency further into turmoil, following chronic funding challenges, the loss of the agency's national accreditation and the indictment of its former chief investigator.

"The medical examiner's office plays a critical role in the criminal justice process and provides important information to families who have lost loved ones," the governor said. "We have to get the agency back on track, and I have great confidence that Commissioner Cline's review will help us accomplish that objective."

The review will focus on the agency's structure, responsibilities and resources as well as regaining its accreditation from the National Association of Medical Examiners, which was revoked in July due to inadequate staffing levels and outdated facilities and equipment. The agency had been accredited for 18 consecutive years.

"What I wanted really was a smart independent top-to-bottom review of this agency, and I think that's exactly what Dr. Cline will provide," Henry said. I know that the board members and the front line employees are doing a great job over there and they're working very hard, but this agency needs to be stabilized and it needs to get back on track."

Cline, a psychologist, declined comment on the appointment and referred media inquiries to Henry's office, said Leslie Bennett-Webb, spokeswoman for the state Department of Health.

A spokesman for Henry, Paul Sund, said Cline's examination is not a criticism of agency employees or the Board of Medicolegal Investigations, which administers the medical examiner's office.

"We are trying to help them and their agency," Sund said. "We're not going in with any preconceived notions or agenda. The goal is to have an agency that works and regains national accreditation."

A spokeswoman for the agency, Cherokee Ballard, said employees welcome the review.

"We're excited. We know our employees will be more than cooperative in the investigation," Ballard said.

She said Cline's examination may help lawmakers decide where and how much additional tax dollars are needed to restore the agency's integrity and accreditation.

"We've really got a lot of great people and we've been in turmoil for some time," Ballard said. "We think it's fantastic that the governor wants us to fix the agency."

Oklahoma lawmakers are already studying plans for a new office and laboratory for the medical examiner's office, which officials said had a backlog of 1,500 investigations in December.

The agency is seeking a location for the facility adjacent to the new Forensic Science Institute at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond and across a highway from the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation's Forensic Science Center, a $31 million, 86,000-square-foot lab that

Governor Henry said he is not setting a timetable for when Health Commissioner Cline's review of the M.E.'s office should be completed.

More on News9.com:
Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Collie Trant Terminated
Former Medical Examiner Dr. Trant to Sue After Being Fired
Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner Placed on Leave
Possible Incriminating E-mails Discovered at M.E.'s Office
State Leaders Proposing M.E.'s Office, OSBI Merger
Medical Examiner's Office Out of Space to Store Bodies