ST. TAMMANY PARISH, La. — Two late addition bills went before a senate committee Tuesday aimed at the St. Tammany Parish coroner, who officially took office two weeks ago.
“There were no real requirements other than having to be a doctor,” said Republican Senator Patrick McMath from Covington.
Sen. McMath’s bill creates more criteria to qualify for the job. That includes having moral and ethical character, no past aggravated criminal convictions, and providing a background check.
“To take into account everything that we’ve learned just recently and in really moving forward we’re not making the same mistake twice,” said Sen. McMath.
What wasn’t known when Dr. Christopher Tape was elected, unopposed, last Fall, was uncovered by WWL Louisiana investigator David Hammer. Hammer exposed decades-old child sexual assault charges against Tape in New Mexico.
Tape never went on trial because time ran out for a speedy trial, and he was not convicted of a crime.
Tape avoided questions from Hammer the night he took office. Once Tape’s past came to light, community members and elected leaders questioned whether he should be in office and called for his resignation.
“Dr. Tape has done some things very early on in his tenure as coroner that are incredibly concerning,” said Sen. McMath.
That includes Tape’s decision to stop the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program and ditch being the lead agency for sexual assault cases for Region Nine. A temporary restraining order, by way of a lawsuit, ordered Tape to reestablish both.
“Anything less of that, then that is basically not following the duties they have accepted within their office,” said Republican Senator Beth Mizell from Franklinton.
A bill authored by Sen. Mizell requires coroners, not designees, to be responsible for sexual assault cases. If a coroner is unable, unwilling, or unqualified, the bill allows a coroner from another jurisdiction to take over.
“Many of our rural parishes are dependent on the commitment of services from a larger umbrella so this makes sure that once that commitment is made there’s follow through in that,” said Sen. Mizell.
Through a spokesman, the St. Tammany Parish Coroner’s Office issued a statement to WWL Louisiana.
“We want more time to study what the impact of the bills would be.”
Sen. McMath says if the bill he authored had been in place before the election, Dr. Tape would never have been elected.
“During the qualifying process he would have been required to submit a background check and let that be open to the public,” said Sen. McMath. “I think that if the information we learned about Dr. Tape had come to light during qualifying, somebody else, at least one other person, would have qualified.”
McMath’s bill would also give the St. Tammany Parish Council control of spending, property, and assets at the coroner’s office, not the coroner. That’s something McMath says was in the works before Tape was elected.
Both bills made it through the committee.
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