§61-12-1.
Repealed. Acts, 1986
Reg. Sess., Ch. 153.
§61-12-2. Repealed. Acts, 1986
Reg. Sess., Ch. 153.
§61-12-3. Office of chief medical
examiner established; appointment,
duties, etc., of chief medical examiner;
assistants and employees; promulgation
of rules.
(a) The office of chief medical
examiner is hereby established within
the division of health in the department
of health and human resources. The
office shall be directed by a chief
medical examiner, who may employ
pathologists, toxicologists, other
forensic specialists, laboratory
technicians, and other staff members, as
needed to fulfill the responsibilities
set forth in this article.
(b) All persons employed by the chief
medical examiner shall be responsible to
him or her and may be discharged for any
reasonable cause. The chief medical
examiner shall specify the
qualifications required for each
position in the office of chief medical
examiner, and each position shall be
subject to rules prescribed by the
secretary of the department of health
and human resources.
(c) The chief medical examiner shall
be a physician licensed to practice
medicine or osteopathic medicine in the
state of West Virginia, who is a
diplomat of the American board of
pathology in forensic pathology, and who
has experience in forensic medicine. The
chief medical examiner shall be
appointed by the director of the
division of health to serve a five-year
term unless sooner removed, but only for
cause, by the governor or by the
director.
(d) The chief medical examiner shall
be responsible to the director of the
division of health in all matters except
that the chief medical examiner shall
operate with independent authority for
the purposes of:
(1) The performance of death
investigations conducted pursuant to
section eight of this article; (2) The
establishment of cause and manner of
death; and (3) The formulation of
conclusions, opinions or testimony in
judicial proceedings.
(e) The chief medical examiner, or
his or her designee, shall be available
at all times for consultation as
necessary for carrying out the functions
of the office of the chief medical
examiner.
(f) The secretary of the department
of health and human resources is hereby
directed to propose legislative rules in
accordance with the provisions of
article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code concerning:
(1) The proper conduct of medical
examinations into the cause of death;
(2) The proper methods and procedures
for postmortem inquiries conducted by
county medical examiners and coroners;
(3) The examination of substances taken
from human remains in order to determine
the cause and manner of death; and (4)
The training and certification of county
medical examiners and coroners.
(g) The chief medical examiner is
authorized to prescribe specific forms
for record books and official papers
which are necessary to the functions and
responsibilities of the office of the
chief medical examiner.
(h) The chief medical examiner, or
his or her designee, is authorized to
order and conduct an autopsy in
accordance with the provisions of this
article and this code. The chief medical
examiner, or his or her designee, shall
perform an autopsy upon the lawful
request of any person authorized by the
provisions of this code to request the
performance of the autopsy.
(i) The salary of the chief medical
examiner and the salaries of all
assistants and employees of the office
of the chief medical examiner shall be
fixed by the Legislature from funds
appropriated for that purpose. The chief
medical examiner shall take an oath and
provide a bond as required by law.
Within the discretion of the director of
the division of health, the chief
medical examiner and his or her
assistants shall lecture or instruct in
the field of legal medicine and other
related subjects to the West Virginia
university or Marshall university school
of medicine, the West Virginia school of
osteopathic medicine, the West Virginia
state police, other law-enforcement
agencies and other interested groups.
§61-12-4. Central office and
laboratory. The office of the chief
medical examiner shall establish and
maintain a central office and a
laboratory having adequate professional
and technical personnel and medical and
scientific facilities for the
performance of the duties imposed by
this article. In order to secure
facilities sufficient to meet the duties
imposed by the provisions of this code,
the chief medical examiner is authorized
to enter into agreements, subject to the
approval of the director of the division
of health, with other state agencies or
departments, with public or private
colleges or universities, schools of
medicine or hospitals for the use of
laboratories, personnel, equipment and
other fixtures, facilities or services.
§61-12-5. Certain salaries and
expenses paid by state. The salaries
of the chief medical examiner, the
salaries of all assistants and employees
employed in the central office and
laboratory, the expenses of maintaining
the central office and laboratory and
the cost of pathological,
bacteriological and toxicological
services rendered by persons other than
the chief medical examiner and his
assistants shall be paid by the state
out of funds appropriated for that
purpose.
§61-12-6. Chief medical examiner
may obtain additional services and
facilities. Subject to the approval
of the director of the division of
health, the chief medical examiner may,
in order to provide for the
investigation of the cause of death as
authorized in this article, employ and
pay qualified pathologists and
toxicologists to make autopsies and such
pathological and chemical studies and
investigations as he or she considers
necessary, in the several counties or
regions of the state and he or she may
arrange for the use of existing
laboratory facilities for such purposes.
Qualified pathologists shall hold board
certification or board eligibility in
forensic pathology or have completed an
American board of pathology fellowship
in forensic pathology.
§61-12-7. Medical examiners.
(a) The chief medical examiner shall
appoint for each county in the state a
county medical examiner to serve for a
term of three years under the
supervision of the chief medical
examiner. A county medical examiner
shall be medically trained and licensed
by the state of West Virginia as a
physician, registered nurse, paramedic,
emergency medical technician or a
physician assistant, be certified in the
practice of medicolegal death
investigation and be of good moral
character. County medical examiners are
authorized to establish the fact of
death, and to make investigations into
all deaths in their respective counties
that come within the provisions of
section eight or ten of this article and
shall in timely fashion record findings
of an investigation using forms
prescribed by the chief medical
examiner. A county medical examiner may
be removed from office for cause at any
time by the chief medical examiner. Any
vacancy in the office of county medical
examiner shall be filled by the chief
medical examiner. One person may be
appointed to serve as county medical
examiner for more than one county, and a
county medical examiner need not be a
resident of the county which he or she
serves. If the chief medical examiner
determines that it is necessary, he or
she may appoint any person medically
trained and licensed by the state of
West Virginia as a physician, registered
nurse, paramedic, emergency medical
technician or a physician assistant and
of good moral character to act as an
assistant county medical examiner for a
term of three years. An assistant shall
have the same powers and duties as a
county medical examiner and shall
perform his or her duties under the
supervision of the chief medical
examiner.
(b) A county medical examiner or his
or her assistant county medical examiner
shall, at all times, be available to
perform the duties required under this
article. He or she shall, additionally,
be paid a fee, as determined by the
chief medical examiner, but only for the
actual performance of his or her duties.
(c) County medical examiners and
assistant county medical examiners are
authorized to determine the cause and
manner of death in any case falling
within the provisions of section eight
of this article, subject to the
supervision of the chief medical
examiner, and may exercise any of the
powers attendant to the investigation of
deaths.
§61-12-8. Certain deaths to be
reported to medical examiners; failure
to report deaths; investigations and
reports; authority of medical examiners
to administer oaths, etc., fees. (a)
When any person dies in this state from
violence, or by apparent suicide, or
suddenly when in apparent good health,
or when unattended by a physician, or
when an inmate of a public institution,
or from some disease which might
constitute a threat to public health, or
in any suspicious, unusual or unnatural
manner, the chief medical examiner, or
his or her designee or the county
medical examiner, or the coroner of the
county in which death occurs shall be
immediately notified by the physician in
attendance, or if no physician is in
attendance, by any law-enforcement
officer having knowledge of the death,
or by the funeral director, or by any
other person present or having
knowledge. Any physician or
law-enforcement officer, funeral
director or embalmer who willfully fails
to comply with this notification
requirement is guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction, shall be fined not
less than one hundred dollars nor more
than five hundred dollars. Upon notice
of a death under this section, the chief
medical examiner, or his or her designee
or the county medical examiner, shall
take charge of the body and any objects
or articles which, in his or her
opinion, may be useful in establishing
the cause or manner of death, and
deliver them to the law-enforcement
agency having jurisdiction in the case.
In the course of an investigation of a
death required to be reported by this
section, the chief medical examiner
shall, upon written request to any
law-enforcement agency or any state or
regional correctional facility, be
provided with all records of the
investigation of decedent’s death and
all records of decedent’s incarceration.
Where a decedent received therapeutic,
corrective or medical treatment prior to
death, the chief medical examiner may
request in writing that any person or
other entity which rendered the
treatment promptly provide all records
within its possession or control
pertaining to the decedent and the
treatment rendered: Provided,
That nothing contained in this section
may be construed as precluding the chief
medical examiner from directly
inspecting or obtaining investigation
records, incarceration records or
medical records related to the case.
Where records of a decedent become part
of the chief medical examiner’s file,
they are not subject to subpoena or a
request for production directed to the
chief medical examiner.
(b) A county medical examiner, or his
or her assistant, shall make inquiries
regarding the cause and manner of death,
reduce his or her findings to writing,
and promptly make a full report thereof
to the chief medical examiner on forms
prescribed by the chief medical
examiner, retaining one copy of the
report for his or her own office records
and providing one copy to the
prosecuting attorney of the county in
which the death occurred.
(c) A county medical examiner or
assistant medical examiner shall receive
a fee for each investigation performed
under the provisions of this article,
including the making of required
reports, which fee shall be determined
by the chief medical examiner and paid
out of funds appropriated therefor.
§61-12-9. Permits required for
cremation; fee. It shall be the duty
of any person cremating, or causing or
requesting the cremation of, the body of
any dead person who died in this state,
to secure a permit for the cremation
from the chief medical examiner, the
county medical examiner or county
coroner of the county wherein the death
occurred, and any person or persons who
willfully fail to secure the permit,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not less than two hundred dollars. A
permit for cremation shall be acted upon
by the chief medical examiner, the
county medical examiner or the county
coroner after review of the
circumstances surrounding the death, as
indicated by the death certificate. The
person requesting issuance of a permit
for cremation shall pay a reasonable
fee, as determined by the chief medical
examiner, to the county medical examiner
or coroner or to the office of the chief
medical examiner, as appropriate, for
issuance of the permit.
§61-12-10. When autopsies made and
by whom performed; reports; records of
date investigated; copies of records and
information. (a) If in the opinion
of the chief medical examiner, or of the
county medical examiner of the county in
which the death in question occurred, it
is advisable and in the public interest
that an autopsy be made, or if an
autopsy is requested by either the
prosecuting attorney or the judge of the
circuit court or other court of record
having criminal jurisdiction in that
county, an autopsy shall be conducted by
the chief medical examiner or his or her
designee, by a member of his staff, or
by a competent pathologist designated
and employed by the chief medical
examiner under the provisions of this
article. For this purpose, the chief
medical examiner may employ any county
medical examiner who is a pathologist
who holds board certification or board
eligibility in forensic pathology or has
completed an American board of pathology
fellowship in forensic pathology to make
the autopsies, and the fees to be paid
for autopsies under this section shall
be in addition to the fee provided for
investigations pursuant to section eight
of this article. A full record and
report of the findings developed by the
autopsy shall be filed with the office
of the chief medical examiner by the
person making the autopsy.
(b) Within the discretion of the
chief medical examiner, or of the person
making the autopsy, or if requested by
the prosecuting attorney of the county,
or of the county where any injury
contributing to or causing the death was
sustained, a copy of the report of the
autopsy shall be furnished to the
prosecuting attorney.
(c) The office of the chief medical
examiner shall keep full, complete and
properly indexed records of all deaths
investigated, containing all relevant
information concerning the death and the
autopsy report if such be made. Any
prosecuting attorney or law-enforcement
officer may secure copies of these
records or information necessary for the
performance of his or her official
duties.
(d) Copies of these records or
information shall be furnished, upon
request, to any court of law, or to the
parties therein to whom the cause of
death is a material issue, except where
the court determines that interests in a
civil matter conflict with the interests
in a criminal proceeding, in which case
the interests in the criminal proceeding
shall take
precedence. The office of chief
medical examiner shall be reimbursed a
reasonable rate by the requesting party
for costs incurred in the production of
records under this subsection and
subsection (c) of this section.
(e) The chief medical examiner is
authorized to release investigation
records and autopsy reports to the
multidisciplinary team authorized by
section three, article five-d, chapter
forty-nine of this code. At the
direction of the secretary of the
department of health and human resources
the chief medical examiner may release
records and information to other state
agencies when considered to be in the
public interest.
(f) Any person performing an autopsy
under this section is empowered to keep
and retain, for and on behalf of the
chief medical examiner, any tissue from
the body upon which the autopsy was
performed which may be necessary for
further study or consideration.
(g) In cases of the death of any
infant in the state of West Virginia
where sudden infant death syndrome is
the suspected cause of death and the
chief medical examiner or the medical
examiner of the county in which the
death in question occurred considers it
advisable to perform an autopsy, it is
the duty of the chief medical examiner
or the medical examiner of the county in
which the death occurred to notify the
sudden infant death syndrome program
within the division of maternal and
child health and to inform the program
of all information to be given to the
infant’s parents.
§61-12-10a. Costs of transportation
of bodies; when state will pay; amount
of payment. Whenever an examination
of a body is ordered pursuant to section
eight or ten of this article and the
body of the deceased is transported to
the central laboratory or other place of
examination, the reasonable cost of the
transportation shall be paid by the
state out of funds appropriated to or
for the use of the office of the chief
medical examiner. Transportation at
state expense shall be provided from the
place where the body is being kept at
the time the examination is ordered to
the central laboratory or other place of
examination, and, upon completion of the
examination, to the place designated by
the person entitled to possession of the
body: Provided, That if the body
is to be returned a greater distance
than it was taken for the examination,
the state shall only be obligated for
the cost of return of the body equal to
or less than that incurred to take the
body for the examination. The payment
shall be of a reasonable amount set by
the office of the chief medical
examiner, including, but not limited to,
payment of any part of the total cost as
the office of the chief medical examiner
allows.
§61-12-11. Exhumation; when
ordered. If, in any case of sudden,
violent or suspicious death, the body is
buried without any investigation by the
chief medical examiner, or by a county
medical examiner or coroner, it is the
duty of the chief medical examiner or
the county medical examiner or coroner,
upon being advised of this fact, to
notify the prosecuting attorney of the
county, who shall communicate the same
to the judge of the circuit court or
other court of record having
jurisdiction in the county and the judge
may order that the body be exhumed and
an autopsy performed thereon, as
provided in section ten of this article
and the pertinent facts disclosed by the
autopsy shall be communicated to the
prosecuting attorney of the county.
§61-12-12. Facilities and services
available to medical examiners.
Pursuant to rules promulgated by the
secretary of the department of health
and human resources, the facilities of
the office of the chief medical examiner
and its laboratory, and the services of
its professional staff, shall be made
available to the county medical
examiners and coroners in their
investigations under the provisions of
section eight of this article, and to
the persons conducting autopsies under
the provisions of section ten of this
article.
§61-12-13. Reports and records
received as evidence; copies.
Reports of investigations and autopsies,
and the records thereof, on file in the
office of the chief medical examiner or
in the office of any county medical
examiner, shall be received as evidence
in any court or other proceeding, and
copies of records, photographs,
laboratory findings and records on file
in the office of the chief medical
examiner or in the office of any county
medical examiner, when duly attested by
the chief medical examiner or by the
county medical examiner, assistant
county medical examiner or coroner in
whose office the same are filed, shall
be received as evidence in any court or
other proceeding for any purpose for
which the original could be received
without any proof of the official
character of the person whose name is
signed thereto unless objected to by
counsel: Provided, That
statements of witnesses or other persons
and conclusions upon extraneous matters
are not hereby made admissible.
§61-12-14. County coroners;
appointment, oath, etc.; duties; fees.
It is the duty of the county commission
of every county, from time to time, to
appoint a coroner for the county, who
shall hold the office during the
pleasure of the commission and shall
take the oath of office prescribed for
other county officers. The county
coroners shall be certified in
medicolegal investigations, be
continually available to perform the
duties required under this article and
shall be paid such fees or amounts for
the services as may be fixed by the
chief medical examiner.
§61-12-15. Invalidity of any
provision or application. If any
provision or application of this article
is held invalid such invalidity shall
not affect other provisions or
application of this article which can be
given effect without the invalid
provisions or application, and to this
end the provisions of this article are
declared to be severable.
