Kansas

Is medical death investigation system centralized, county-based, or district-based?
District-based. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

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. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

“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?
The district coroner, with the approval of the county commissioners of a single-county judicial district or the county commissioners of the county with the largest population in multiple-county judicial districts, may appoint one or more deputy coroners . . . Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

If so, what are the deputies’ roles?
Deputy coroners . . . shall have the same duties and authority as the district coroner. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

What are the qualifications for deputies?
Deputy coroners . . . shall have the qualifications of and shall have the same duties and authority as the district coroner . . . Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

Is the coroner or medical examiner position elected?
No. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

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

What are the qualifications specified by law?
The district coroner shall be a resident of the state of Kansas licensed to practice medicine and surgery by the state board of healing arts or shall be a resident of a military or other federal enclave within the state and shall be duly licensed to practice medicine and surgery within such enclave. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-226.

What types of deaths are required to be investigated?
When any person dies, or human body is found dead in the state, and the death is suspected to have been the result of violence, caused by unlawful means or by suicide, or by casualty, or suddenly when the decedent was in apparent health, or when decedent was not regularly attended by a licensed physician, or in any suspicious or unusual manner, or when in police custody, or when in a jail or correctional institution, or in any circumstances specified under K.S.A. 22a-242, and amendments thereto, or when the determination of the cause of a death is held to be in the public interest . . . the coroner on the county of the cause of death shall decide if an investigation shall take place. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-231.

When a child dies, any law enforcement officer, health care provider or other person having knowledge of the death shall immediately notify the coroner of the known facts concerning the time, place, manner and circumstances of the death. If the notice to the coroner identifies any suspicious circumstances or unknown cause, as described in the protocol developed by the state review board under K.S.A. 22a-243 and amendments thereto, the coroner shall immediately . . . [i]nvestigate the death to determine whether the child’s death included any such suspicious circumstance or unknown cause . . . Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-242.

What types of deaths are required to be autopsied?
If, in the opinion of the coroner, an autopsy should be performed, or if an autopsy is requested in writing by the county or district attorney or if the autopsy is required under K.S.A. 22a-242, and amendments thereto, such autopsy shall be performed by a qualified pathologist as may be designated by the coroner . . .  If, in the opinion of the secretary of corrections, warden or administrator of a correctional facility, jail or other institution for the detention of persons accused or convicted of crimes, an autopsy of a person who died while in the custody of such official should be performed, such autopsy shall be performed by a qualified pathologist as may be designated by the secretary of corrections, warden or administrator. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-233.

When a child dies . . . [i]f the notice to the coroner identifies any suspicious circumstances or unknown cause, as described in the protocol developed by the state review board under K.S.A. 22a-243 and amendments thereto, the coroner shall immediately . . . direct a pathologist to perform an autopsy. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-242.

Does the state require that pathologists perform the autopsies?
Yes, [i]f, in the opinion of the coroner, an autopsy should be performed, or if an autopsy is requested in writing by the county or district attorney or if the autopsy is required under K.S.A. 22a-242, and amendments thereto, such autopsy shall be performed by a qualified pathologist as may be designated by the coroner. Kan. Stat. Ann. § 22a-233.