A grieving Georgia family is taking on the courthouse establishment with a statewide push to change who can serve as a county coroner. Their proposal, commonly called Embert’s Act, would set minimum medical and investigative qualifications for elected death investigators after years of contested rulings tied to the Embert case.
According to FOX 5 Atlanta, the campaign grew out of high-profile allegations of mismanagement in local death investigations and is being driven by relatives who say the system failed them. The station reports that the draft would require standardized medical backgrounds and training for coroners across Georgia.
What Embert’s Act Would Do
The draft, formally titled the William “Jake” Embert Investigative Integrity and Victims’ Rights Act, lays out a tighter system for how death rulings are handled, according to WALB. It calls for mandatory coroner certification, an independent review process for disputed rulings, enforceable victims' rights, and clearer timelines for investigations.
“Death is not an assumption, it is not a guessing game,” Rachel Embert told WALB as she explained why the family drafted the measure. Supporters say they want to prevent the delays and conflicting findings that stretched the Embert saga over more than a decade.
How Coroners Are Chosen Now
Right now, coroners in Georgia are elected county officials. Once in office, they must complete an approved basic training course and then meet yearly continuing-education requirements overseen by the Georgia Coroner’s Training Council. Under the state’s rules, new coroners have up to 180 days after election or appointment to finish the basic course, and they must complete 24 hours of approved training each year to keep their certification, according to Georgia Rules & Regulations.
On paper, though, the bar to get on the ballot is relatively low. Statutory eligibility focuses on criteria in the Official Code of Georgia such as age, county residency, voter registration, and having a high-school diploma or GED, as local guidance from Morgan County notes. Medical training is not a prerequisite.
Where The Bill Stands
The Embert family has been working the grassroots, gathering signatures and support across the state. Their petition on Change.org casts the proposal as part of a broader victims' rights effort.
WALB reports that the family has already presented the plan to the Georgia Coroner’s Training Council and that the draft has been submitted to the General Assembly, where it is now waiting for lawmakers to take it up. Advocates say a key goal is to give families a clearer, formal path to independent review when they contest a death ruling.
What Comes Next
Lawmakers in Atlanta will decide whether Embert’s Act gets committee hearings and eventually makes it to the floor for a vote. Supporters argue that higher baseline qualifications and a stronger statewide certification system would give families more direct routes to independent review instead of years of costly, drawn out litigation, as FOX 5 Atlanta noted.
If the draft is adopted, it would change how scores of county coroner offices are staffed and certified under the framework now administered by the Georgia Coroner’s Training Council. The state rules spell out the Council’s authority over certification and oversight, and Embert’s Act would aim to tighten how that system functions in practice.
