Sexual orientation and gender identity data collection pilot project.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health under the direction of the State Public Health Officer, and sets forth the powers and duties of the State Public Health Officer, including designation as the State Registrar of Vital Statistics. Existing law authorizes the department to establish and maintain the California Electronic Violent Death Reporting System (CEVDRS) , to collect data on violent deaths from data sources, including, but not limited to, death certificates, law enforcement reports, and coroner or medical examiner reports. Existing law sets forth the duties and authority of a county coroner, and authorizes a county board of supervisors, by ordinance, to abolish the office of coroner and provide instead for the office of medical examiner, to be appointed by the board and to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the coroner. Existing law requires the coroner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of all violent deaths in the coroner's jurisdiction. This bill would require the department to establish a 3-year pilot program in up to 6 counties that agree to participate, for the identification and collection by coroners and medical examiners of gender identity and sexual orientation in cases of violent death. The bill would require the counties to be trained in the data collection by a public or private agency with expertise in identifying and collecting clinical data pertaining to sexual orientation and gender identity, as specified. Following the training, the bill would require a coroner or medical examiner to begin data collection and to aggregate, deidentify, and annually report the data to the board of supervisors and the department. The bill would require the department to include the pilot program data in the CEVDRS. The bill would make its provisions inoperative on the date the State Public Health Officer certifies that the final year of data from the pilot program has been entered in the CEVDRS, and would repeal the provisions on the January 1 following that date.