Louisiana

Is medical death investigation system centralized, county-based, or district-based?
County-based [parish-based]. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5701.

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?
Coroner. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5701.

“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?
Each coroner may appoint one or more deputy or assistant coroners to perform his duties, who need not be residents of the parish. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5705.

The coroner may contract with any competent physician or other expert to assist in the conduct of an investigation or autopsy. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5710.

If so, what are the deputies’ roles?
[T]o perform [the coroner’s] duties. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5705.

What are the qualifications for deputies?
[A]ny person appointed as a deputy or assistant coroner, who is not a resident of the parish, shall be a licensed physician. They shall possess the same qualifications as the coroner . . . La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5705.

Is the coroner or medical examiner position elected?
Yes. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5701.

If so, how many years is the term of office?
Four. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5701.

What are the qualifications specified by law?
A. The coroner shall be a physician licensed by the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners to practice medicine in the state of Louisiana. This requirement shall be waived in any parish in which no licensed physician qualifies to run for the office.

B. The coroner shall be a resident of the parish. However, a licensed physician who is not a resident of the parish but who maintains a full-time medical practice at a principal medical office facility in the parish may qualify for and hold the office.

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5704.

What types of deaths are required to be investigated?

The coroner shall conduct an investigation concerning the manner and cause of any death when informed that death has resulted from violence or accident, or under suspicious circumstances. The coroner may conduct an investigation concerning the medical aspects of any case that may involve medical evidence and in which there is a reasonable probability that a criminal statute has been violated and shall do so when ordered by the court . . . La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 101.

(1) When a death occurs and the death appears to have been due to natural causes, the coroner of the parish of domicile of the deceased shall be responsible for any investigation into the cause and manner of death and for any examination of the body or autopsy.

(2) When a death occurs and a crime or accident is suspected, the coroner of the parish where the crime or accident occurred shall be responsible for any investigation into the cause and manner of death and for any examination of the body or autopsy.

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5706.

A. The coroner shall either view the body or make an investigation into the cause and manner of death in all cases involving the following:

(1) Suspicious, unexpected, or unusual deaths.

(2) Sudden or violent deaths.

(3) Deaths due to unknown or obscure causes or in any unusual manner.

(4) Bodies found dead.

(5) Deaths without an attending physician within thirty-six hours prior to the hour of death.

(6) Deaths due to suspected suicide or homicide.

(7) Deaths in which poison is suspected.

(8) Any death from natural causes occurring in a hospital under twenty-four hours admission unless seen by a physician in the last thirty-six hours.

(9) Deaths following an injury or accident either old or recent.

(10) Deaths due to drowning, hanging, burns, electrocution, gunshot wounds, stabs or cutting, lightning, starvation, radiation, exposure, alcoholism, addiction, tetanus, strangulation, suffocation, or smothering.

(11) Deaths due to trauma from whatever cause.

(12) Deaths due to criminal means or by casualty.

(13) Deaths in prison or while serving a sentence.

(14) Deaths due to virulent contagious disease that might be caused by or cause a public hazard, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5713.

What types of deaths are required to be autopsied?
The coroner may perform an autopsy in any death case or cause one to be performed by a competent physician. He shall do so:

(1) When there is a reasonable probability that the violation of a criminal statute has contributed to the death;

(2) When ordered by the court, which order may be issued ex parte by the court either on its own motion or on application by the district attorney; or

(3) In all other cases provided by law.

La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann. art. 102.

(1) When a death occurs and the death appears to have been due to natural causes, the coroner of the parish of domicile of the deceased shall be responsible for any investigation into the cause and manner of death and for any examination of the body or autopsy.

(2) When a death occurs and a crime or accident is suspected, the coroner of the parish where the crime or accident occurred shall be responsible for any investigation into the cause and manner of death and for any examination of the body or autopsy.

La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5706.

The coroner may perform or cause to be performed by a competent physician an autopsy in any case in his discretion. The coroner shall perform or cause to be performed by a competent physician an autopsy in the case of any death where there is a reasonable probability that the violation of a criminal statute has contributed to the death . . . The coroner shall perform or cause to be performed by a competent physician an autopsy in all cases of infants under the age of one year who die unexpectedly without explanation. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 13:5713.

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