INDIANAPOLIS -- Pay could be withheld from Marion County Coroner Dr. Kenneth Ackles (pictured) under a new state law that requires coroners to receive additional training.

A City-County Council committee debated the controversial move at a heated meeting Tuesday night, 6News' Rick Hightower reported.

Ackles has not completed the training requirement, and the law indicates that the county can keep him from getting paid until he does.

"It's the coroner's obligation to present to us a certificate or some type of evidence saying he's completed the training, and we don't have that," said Republican Councilor Ryan Vaughn.

Democrats argued that the existing law said the council can't alter the pay of elected officials, but their motion to table the matter failed.

The Legislature passed the law in the aftermath of a tragic crash involving Taylor University students in which two of the victims were misidentified by coroner investigators.

Ackles was not at the meeting, but his attorney, Gregory Gadsen, said the law is confusing.

"The statute was poorly drafted," Gadsen said. "There's a conflict in the law, and they didn't adequately anticipate this conflict and that's the problem. I feel for the council, because they're placed in a difficult position."

In a party line vote, Republicans voted to deny the coroner's pay until he completes the training.

The committee amended its vote to exclude some deputy coroners who get that title loosely, including maintenance personnel and other staff not involved in death investigations.

The committee vote moves the measure on to the full council. Last week, Ackles pulled out of a race for re-election as coroner.