What to know
A medicolegal investigation is conducted by a coroner’s or medical examiner’s office to determine how someone died. Each state sets its own standards for what kinds of deaths require investigation. These are the laws for New York.
Medicolegal death investigation system
Is medical death investigation system centralized, county-based, or district-based?
County-based. N.Y. County Law § 671 (McKinney).
If centralized, in which department or agency is the system housed?
Not applicable.
Does the state system have a coroner, medical examiner, or coroners and medical examiners?
Coroners and medical examiners. The board of supervisors in any county in which the office of coroner is abolished shall appoint a medical examiner. N.Y. County Law § 400(McKinney).
"In practice" notes
None.
Is there a state medical examiner?
No.
If so, what is the state medical examiner's role?
Not applicable.
In what department or agency is the state medical examiner's office located?
Not applicable.
Are there deputies?
In any county in which the coroner or any of the coroners is not a physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this state, the board [of supervisors] shall appoint one or more coroner's physicians . . . Each coroner's physician appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall by virtue of his office be a deputy coroner and shall possess the powers and perform the duties of the coroner, during the absence or inability of the coroner to act, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of coroner. N.Y. County Law§ 400 (McKinney).
If so, what are the deputies' roles?
Each coroner's physician appointed pursuant to this subdivision . . . shall possess the powers and perform the duties of the coroner, during the absence or inability of the coroner to act, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of coroner. N.Y. County Law § 400 (McKinney).
[W]hen a coroner is not a physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this state, the jurisdiction and authority specified in this section must be exercised jointly by the coroner and a coroner's physician. N.Y. County Law § 673 (McKinney).
What are the qualifications for deputies?
Physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this state. N.Y. County Law § 674 (McKinney).
Qualifications, term of office, and training
Is the coroner or medical examiner position elected?
Coroner: elected
Medical examiner: appointed
N.Y. County Law § 400 (McKinney).
If so, how many years is the term of office?
Four. N.Y. County Law § 400 (McKinney).
What are the qualifications specified by law?
The medical examiner shall be a resident of the county and a physician duly licensed to practice his profession in the state of New York and shall be a person determined by the board of supervisors as qualified to perform an autopsy and dissect dead bodies of human beings.
Coroner's physician. Except in counties where the office of coroner has been abolished, the board of supervisors may appoint one or more coroner's physicians or may provide by local law for the appointment of one or more coroner's physicians, and may fix the terms of their office. In any county in which the coroner or any of the coroners is not a physician duly licensed to practice medicine in this state, the board shall appoint one or more coroner's physicians.
Each coroner's physician appointed pursuant to this subdivision shall by virtue of his office be a deputy coroner and shall possess the powers and perform the duties of the coroner, during the absence or inability of the coroner to act, or in the event of a vacancy in the office of coroner.
N.Y. County Law § 400 (McKinney).
Investigations/autopsies
What types of deaths are required to be investigated?
A coroner or medical examiner has jurisdiction and authority to investigate the death of every person dying within his county, or whose body is found within the county, which is or appears to be:
(a) A violent death, whether by criminal violence, suicide or casualty;
(b) A death caused by unlawful act or criminal neglect;
(c) A death occurring in a suspicious, unusual or unexplained manner;
(d) A death caused by suspected criminal abortion;
(e) A death while unattended by a physician, so far as can be discovered, or where no physician able to certify the cause of death as provided in the public health law and in form as prescribed by the commissioner of health can be found;
(f) A death of a person confined in a public institution other than a hospital, infirmary or nursing home.
N.Y. County Law § 673 (McKinney).
What types of deaths are required to be autopsied?
In the course of the investigation, the coroner or coroner and coroner's physician, or the medical examiner, shall make or cause to be made such examinations, including an autopsy, as in his or their opinion are necessary to establish the cause of death, or to determine the means or manner of death . . .
The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly perform or cause to be performed an autopsy and to prepare an autopsy report which shall include a toxicological report and any report of any examination or inquiry with respect to any death occurring within his county to an inmate of a correctional facility . . . whether or not the death occurred inside such facility.
N.Y. County Law § 674 (McKinney).
Does the state require that pathologists perform the autopsies?
No.
Disclaimer
Information available on this website that was not developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not necessarily represent any CDC policy, position, or endorsement of that information or of its sources. The information contained on this website is not legal advice; if you have questions about a specific law or its application you should consult your legal counsel.