State lawmakers look to file legislation targeting embattled St. Tammany coroner

Two state senators plan to file legislation that would limit the authority of the new and controversial St. Tammany Parish coroner. Dr. Christopher Tape outraged state and local elected officials by not disclosing sexual misconduct allegations made against him and eliminating sexual assault survivor services run by his office. 

Sen. Patrick McMath, R-Covington, drafted a bill to establish new professional criteria for the St. Tammany coroner that could be used to oust Tape. They include a requirement that the coroner be “of good moral and ethical character and temperate habits.”

McMath’s legislation would give the St. Tammany Parish Council power to discipline and remove the coroner. The council would also have more control over the coroner’s budget.

Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, plans to author a second piece of legislation that could adjust the law surrounding coroners’ responsibilities regarding sexual assault evidence collection and victim programs. 

Neither bill has been filed yet. Lawmakers have until the middle of next week to submit them for consideration in the current legislative session that must end June 3. 

A spokesman for Tape said the coroner couldn’t comment on the proposals because he hadn’t seen copies of the legislation yet. 

Tape, who assumed office this week, was indicted, but not convicted, on child sexual assault charges in New Mexico in 2002. He also paid a legal settlement in 2022 to a woman in Lafayette who accused him of making unwanted sexual advances toward her, according to WWL-TV.  

Tape’s legal history did not come to light until months after he ran unopposed and won the local coroner’s election by default last year. 

In one of his first acts as an elected official, he cut the coroner’s sexual assault nurse examiner program serving five Northshore parishes. The decision last week blindsided local law enforcement and hospital leaders, who are now scrambling to figure out how to collect evidence from victims of sex crimes. 

The nurses Tape laid off are specifically trained to gather physical evidence, conduct interviews and take photos of victims of sexual assault that are used in criminal prosecutions. They work with children and adults and sometimes testify in court.

Since Tape’s sexual molestation charges surfaced, elected officials have repeatedly asked him to resign, which he’s unwilling to do. There’s also an effort to recall him and hold a new coroner’s election, but the burden for doing so in Louisiana is difficult to meet. 

Legislation that fundamentally changes what Tape – and possibly other state coroners – can do might provide state officials with a way to work around him.

Attorney General Liz Murrill is working with Mizell on her bill. The attorney general said her office is “going to do whatever we can” to make sure the sexual assault nurse examiner program cut by Tape gets up and running again.

“Rape kits don’t need to be stuck in bureaucracy,” Murrill said.

Gov. Jeff Landry was also critical of Tape’s decision to end sexual assault victim services.

“Dissolving the SANE program in St. Tammany is a disservice to thousands of victims across five parishes and will only hurt the chances of prosecuting these criminals,” he said in a written statement.