Alaska

Is medical death investigation system centralized, county-based, or district-based?
Centralized. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

If centralized, in which department or agency is the system housed?
Health and Social Services. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

Does the state system have a coroner, medical examiner, or coroners and medical examiners?
Medical examiner. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

“In practice” notes
None.

Is there a state medical examiner?
Yes. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

If so, what is the state medical examiner’s role?
(a) When a death is reported to the state medical examiner under Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.005, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall perform a medical death investigation. When a person dies under circumstances that, in the opinion of the state medical examiner, warrant an investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may perform a medical death investigation. In performing the investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may

(1) order that the body of the person who has died not be moved or otherwise disturbed without the permission of the medical examiner;

(2) request a peace officer to secure the scene and perform an on-scene investigation;

(3) view the remains of the deceased person;

(4) order the remains of the deceased to be transported to another location;

(5) perform a postmortem examination;

(6) perform an autopsy;

(7) take possession of property considered necessary for the investigation;

(8) subpoena and examine a person or record necessary in the opinion of the medical examiner to determine the material facts relating to the death; and

(9) take other actions appropriate under the circumstances to determine the cause and manner of death.

(b) When the state medical examiner or deputy medical examiner has completed an investigation or made the inquiry considered appropriate by the examiner, the examiner shall prepare a report of the examiner’s findings and conclusions. If the findings and conclusions indicate that the death may have been caused by criminal means, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall submit a copy of the report to the district attorney responsible for prosecutions in the location where the death occurred . . .

(c) The state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, or a prosecuting attorney may petition the court to hold a death inquest under Alaska Stat. Ann. § 09.55.062 if the findings and conclusions of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner, in the opinion of the state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, or prosecuting attorney, warrant the inquest. Otherwise, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall cause a certificate of death for the deceased person to be completed and filed as prescribed by law.

(d) The state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may direct the state registrar of vital statistics to amend a death certificate when, in the opinion of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner, the death certificate is incomplete or inaccurate.

(e) The state medical examiner may enter into agreements for services to be performed by persons in the course of medical investigations, and the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may call upon public employees, including a peace officer or a village public safety officer, to perform or assist in performing the duties specified in this section.

(f) The state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, and individuals who perform or assist the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner in performing the duties of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner under this section are immune from civil liability based on determining the cause and manner of a person’s death.

(g) The Department of Health and Social Services shall adopt regulations to implement this section.

Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.020.

In what department or agency is the state medical examiner’s office located?
Health and Social Services. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

Are there deputies?
The commissioner shall also appoint a deputy medical examiner, and may appoint assistant medical examiners . . . . Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

If so, what are the deputies’ roles?
The commissioner shall also appoint a deputy medical examiner, and may appoint assistant medical examiners, to perform or assist the state medical examiner in performing these duties . . . The state medical examiner may, through contracts for services, appoint local, regional, and district medical examiners throughout the state to perform or assist in performing the duties assigned to the state medical examiner. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

What are the qualifications for deputies?
To be eligible for appointment as a local, regional, or district medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

Is the coroner or medical examiner position elected?
No. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

If so, how many years is the term of office?
Not applicable.

What are the qualifications specified by law?
(b) The state medical examiner and the deputy medical examiner must be physicians licensed to practice in the state who have education and experience in forensic pathology . . .

(d) The state medical examiner may, through contracts for services, appoint local, regional, and district medical examiners throughout the state to perform or assist in performing the duties assigned to the state medical examiner. To be eligible for appointment as a local, regional, or district medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state.

Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.015.

What types of deaths are required to be investigated?
[S]tate medical examiner [must be notified] when the death appears to have

(1) been caused by unknown or criminal means, during the commission of a crime, or by suicide, accident, or poisoning;

(2) occurred under suspicious or unusual circumstances or occurred suddenly when the decedent was in apparent good health;

(3) been unattended by a practicing physician or occurred less than 24 hours after the deceased was admitted to a medical facility;

(4) been associated with a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure;

(5) resulted from a disease that constitutes a threat to public health;

(6) been caused by a disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting from employment;

(7) occurred in a jail or corrections facility owned or operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state or in a facility for the placement of persons in the custody or under the supervision of the state;

(8) occurred in a foster home;

(9) occurred in a mental institution or mental health treatment facility;

(10) occurred while the deceased was in the custody of, or was being taken into the custody of, the state or a political subdivision of the state or a public officer or agent of the state or a political subdivision of the state; or

(11) been of a child under 18 years of age or under the legal custody of the Department of Health and Social Services, subject to the jurisdiction of Alaska Stat. Ann. § 47.10 or Alaska Stat. Ann. § 47.12, unless the

(A) child’s death resulted from a natural disease process and was medically expected; and
(B) the child was under supervised medical care during the 24 hours before the death.

(b) A person who attends a death or has knowledge of a death occurring in circumstances other than those enumerated in (a) of this section may notify the state medical examiners of the death if, in the person’s opinion, a death investigation under Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.020–12.65.025 may be appropriate . . .

Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.005.

When a death is reported to the state medical examiner under Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.005, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall perform a medical death investigation. When a person dies under circumstances that, in the opinion of the state medical examiner, warrant an investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may perform a medical death investigation. Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.020.

What types of deaths are required to be autopsied?
In performing the investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may . . .

(5) perform a postmortem examination;

(6) perform an autopsy . . .

Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.65.020.

Does the state require that pathologists perform the autopsies?
No.