(a)
Appointment; revocation. Upon appointment of a Medical Examiner and his/her deputies as provided in Article XXX of the Charter, a certificate of such appointment shall be filed and recorded in the office of the County Clerk. The Medical Examiner, before entering upon the duties of his/her office, shall take and file the prescribed oath of office and furnish and file the required undertaking. The appointment of the Medical Examiner and any of his/her deputies may be revoked at any time by the County Executive by the filing of a certificate of such revocation in the office of the County Clerk.
(b)
Jurisdiction to investigate
deaths. The Medical Examiner shall have jurisdiction and authority
to investigate the death of every person dying within the County of
Dutchess or whose body is found within the County which is or appears
to be:
(1)
A violent death, whether by criminal violence, suicide or casualty;
(2)
A death caused by unlawful act or criminal neglect;
(3)
A death occurring in a suspicious, unusual or unexplained manner;
(4)
A death caused by suspected criminal abortion;
(5)
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 a form as prescribed by the Commissioner
of Health, can be found;
(6)
A death of a person confined in a public institution other than
a hospital, infirmary or nursing home.
(c)
Manner of investigation.
1.
When the Medical Examiner is informed of the occurrence of a death
within his/her jurisdiction as defined in the previous subsection,
he/she shall go at once to the place where the body is and take charge
of it. The Medical Examiner shall have authority, to the extent required
for the investigation, to remove and transport the body upon taking
charge of it, notwithstanding any general, special or local law.
2.
The Medical Examiner shall fully investigate the essential facts
concerning the death, taking the names and addresses of as many witnesses
thereto as it may be practicable to obtain, and before leaving the
premises shall reduce all such facts to writing. He/She shall take
possession of any portable objects which, in his/her opinion, may
be useful in establishing the cause or means of death.
3.
In the course of the investigation, the Medical Examiner shall make
or cause to be made such examinations, including an autopsy, as in
his/her opinion are necessary to establish the cause of death, or
to determine the means or manner of death, or to discover facts, the
ascertainment of which is requested in writing by a District Attorney,
or a Sheriff, or the Chief of a police department of a city or the
County, or the Superintendent of State Police, or the Commissioner
of Corrections. The authority to make any examination as provided
in this section includes the authority to remove, retain and transport
or send, for the purpose of the examination, any tissue or organs
and any portable object. The Medical Examiner shall have power to
subpoena and examine witnesses under oath in the same manner as a
magistrate in holding a court of special sessions.
(d)
Advice, consultation and assistance. The Medical Examiner shall have
authority, when necessary in his/her opinion, to consult with and
to request advice, consultation or other assistance from any officer
of a department of the state government, from any Medical Examiner
of any city or county, from any coroner or coroner's physician of
any county, or from the head of any public health laboratory, police
laboratory or state or municipal laboratory or from any member of
the staff of such laboratory designated for such purposes by the head
thereof, or from any physician qualified to make post-mortem examinations
and to testify thereon; and to request from any such person such tests,
examinations or analysis and reports with respect thereto as are necessary,
in his/her opinion, with respect to the body of the deceased or any
part thereof or with respect to any other matter related to his/her
investigation.
(e)
Employment of stenographer. When the services of a stenographer shall
not have been provided by the County Legislature, or if a stenographer
so provided is not available, the Medical Examiner shall have the
power to employ a stenographer for the purpose of taking statements
and reducing to writing the testimony of witnesses or of transcribing
or reproducing any report or document required by his/her investigation.
If the County Legislature has not fixed any rate of compensation,
such stenographer shall be paid for taking and transcribing minutes
at the rate charged by official court stenographers in the County
of Dutchess.
(f)
Reports and records.
1.
The writing made by the Medical Examiner at the place where he/she
takes charge of the body shall be filed promptly in the office of
the Medical Examiner. The testimony of witnesses examined before him/her
and the report of any examination made or directed by him/her shall
be made in writing or reduced to writing and thereupon filed in such
office.
2.
The report of any autopsy or other examination shall state every
fact and circumstance tending to show the condition of the body and
the cause and means or manner of death. The person performing any
autopsy for the purpose of determining the cause of death or means
or manner of death shall enter upon the record the pathological appearance
and findings, embodying such information as may be prescribed by the
State Commissioner of Health, and append thereto the diagnosis of
the cause of death and of the means or manner of death. Methods and
forms prescribed by the State Commissioner of Health for obtaining
and preserving records and statistics of autopsies conducted within
the state shall be employed. A detailed description of the findings,
written during the progress of the autopsy, and the conclusions drawn
therefrom shall, when completed, be filed in the office of the Medical
Examiner.
3.
The Medical Examiner shall keep full and complete records, properly
indexed, stating the name, if known, of every person whose death is
investigated, the place where the body was found, the date of death,
if known, and if not known, the date or approximate date as determined
by the investigation, to which there shall be attached the original
report of the Medical Examiner and the detailed findings of the autopsy,
if any. Such records shall be kept in the office of the Medical Examiner.
4.
Such records as required in this section shall be open to inspection
by the District Attorney. Upon application of the personal representative,
spouse or next of kin of the deceased or any person who is or may
be affected in a civil or a criminal action by the contents of the
record or any investigation, or upon application of any person having
a substantial interest therein, an order may be made by court of record,
or by a Justice of the Supreme Court, that the record of that investigation
be made available for his/her inspection, or that a transcript thereof
be furnished to him/her, or both.
5.
The Medical Examiner shall promptly deliver to the District Attorney
copies of all records pertaining to any death whenever, in his/her
opinion or in the judgment of the person performing the autopsy, there
is any indication that a crime was committed.
(g)
Disposition of money or property found on deceased.
1.
Money and other property found upon the body of the deceased, not
required for the purpose of the investigation, shall be delivered
to the Commissioner of Finance of the County of Dutchess. Unless claimed
in the meantime by the legal representatives of the deceased, articles
held for the purpose of the investigation, except such writings of
the deceased as may be relevant to the diagnosis of means or manner
of death, shall be delivered to the Commissioner of Finance of the
County of Dutchess at the conclusion of the investigation.
2.
Upon the delivery of the money to the Commissioner of Finance, he/she
must place it to the credit of the County. If other property is delivered
to him/her, he/she must, within one year, sell it at public auction
upon reasonable public notice, and must, in like manner, place the
proceeds to the credit of the County.
3.
If the money be demanded within six years by the legal representatives
of the deceased, the Commissioner of Finance must pay it to them,
after deducting the amount of expenses incurred in connection therewith,
or it may be so paid at any time thereafter, upon the order of the
County Legislature; provided, however, that such money may be so paid
at any time upon written order of the Surrogate of the County of Dutchess.
4.
Before auditing and allowing the account of the Medical Examiner,
the County Legislature must require from him/her a statement in writing
of any money or other property found upon persons whose deaths he/she
has investigated, verified by his/her oath to the effect that the
statement is true and that the money or property mentioned in it has
been delivered to the legal representatives of the deceased, or to
the Commissioner of Finance.
There shall be a Fire Advisory Board whose members shall be
appointed by the County Legislature in the manner and for the term
provided by law. Each member of the Fire Advisory Board holding office
on the effective date of this Code shall continue in office for the
balance of his/her term, at the conclusion of which the applicable
appointive provisions of this Code shall become operative. The Fire
Advisory Board shall have the powers and duties conferred upon it
by the Charter, this Code or other applicable law.
[Amended 2-14-1983 by L.L. No. 2-1983; 12-6-1993 by L.L. No. 8-1993]
There shall be a County Historian, appointed by the County Executive,
subject to confirmation by the County Legislature. He/She shall serve
at the pleasure of the County Executive. He/She shall have all the
powers and perform all the duties now or hereafter conferred or imposed
upon him/her by law and perform such other and related duties required
by the County Executive or the County Legislature.
[Added 12-6-2012 by L.L.
No. 7-2012[1]]
(a)
The
Director of the Office for the Aging shall:
1.
Be responsible for providing the following general services in connection
with the County's aging population, which shall include but not be
limited to:
a.
Plan environmental and personal services to meet the needs of
the elderly through the evaluation of services and the identification
of major problems affecting the elderly;
b.
Stimulate and review needed programs and services for the elderly;
c.
Conduct research on the needs of the elderly in this community
and develop alternative means of meeting these needs;
d.
Cooperate with elderly citizens and organizations servicing
or representing the elderly to meet the needs of the elderly population
of the community;
e.
Provide information relative to programs and services for the
elderly in the community and sources of support for programs and services;
f.
Encourage the cooperation of agencies servicing the elderly;
and
g.
Recommend to and cooperate with federal, state and local agencies
in the development of policy toward the elderly.
2.
The
Director of the Office for the Aging may from time to time add or
delete such programs as allowed by statute, rule or regulation.
(b)
Advisory
Board/Committee, officers, powers and duties. The existing Aging Advisory
Board/Committee shall continue without interruption or change.
It shall consist of not less than nine nor more than 18 members
appointed by the County Executive whose function and duty it will
be to advise the Director on matters related to the operation of said
division. The term for which the members shall be appointed to serve
shall be as follows:
1.
One-third
of the membership to serve for a one-year term;
2.
One-third
of the membership to serve for a two-year term;
3.
One-third
of the membership to serve for a three-year term;
4.
Upon
the termination of the term of each member, succeeding members shall
be appointed for a three-year term.
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At least half of the membership of the Board/Committee shall
include actual or potential consumers of services provided by the
County for older persons, with the remainder of the group to be broadly
representative of major public and private agencies and organizations
in the County concerned with the interests of older persons and other
persons who are interested in or have demonstrated special interests
in the special needs of the elderly. In the event of the death or
resignation of any member, his/her successor shall be appointed to
serve for the unexpired period of the term for which such member has
been appointed. The County Executive may appoint County officials
to serve ex officio on this Board/Committee.
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The Chairperson shall be elected from the membership of the
Board/Committee by the Board/Committee members to serve for a term
of one year. The Chairperson shall preside at all Board/Committee
meetings and represent the Board/Committee.
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The Vice-Chair shall be elected from the membership of the Board/Committee
by the Board/Committee members to serve for a term of one year. The
Vice-Chair shall, in the absence of the Chairperson, act in his place.
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[Added 3-13-1991 by L.L.
No. 3-1991; amended by L.L. No.
8-1991]
The County Executive shall convene an Architect, Engineer and
Construction Management Consultant Selection Committee for the County
of Dutchess.
1.
Membership of the Architect, Engineer and Construction Management
Consultant Selection Committee.
[Amended 4-14-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
a.
There will be an Architect, Engineer and Construction Management
Consultant Selection Committee consisting of 10 members as follows:
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Commissioner of Finance
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Commissioner of Planning and Development
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Commissioner of Public Works
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Majority Leader of the County Legislature or his/her designee
from the County Legislature
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Minority Leader of the County Legislature or his/her designee
from the County Legislature
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Chair of the Public Works and Capital Projects Committee or
his/her designee from the Public Works and Capital Projects Committee
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County Attorney or his/her designee from the County Attorney's
Office
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Chair of the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee or his/her
designee from the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee
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Chair of the County Legislature or his/her designee from the
County Legislature
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Appointee to be appointed by the Chair of the Legislature
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b.
The Chair of the Public Works and Capital Projects Committee of the
Dutchess County Legislature shall serve as Chair of this Committee.
c.
The Comptroller, County Clerk, Sheriff and District Attorney or their
respective designees shall be members of the Committee with full rights
and voting privileges when such proposed capital construction projects
directly involve their departments.
2.
Powers and duties of the Architect, Engineer and Construction Management
Consultant Selection Committee.
a.
The Architect, Engineer and Construction Management Consultant Selection
Committee will assess the qualifications of all architects, engineers
and construction management consultants whose services may be used
in the construction of capital projects, for which an amount of $2,000,000
or more will be spent;
[Amended 7-14-1997 by L.L. No. 7-1997; 8-13-2001 by L.L. No. 6-2001]
b.
The Architect, Engineer and Construction Management Consultant Selection
Committee will recommend the best qualified architect, engineer and
construction management consultant based upon an evaluation of the
candidate's credentials, experience and fee offer and report the results
of its findings and recommendations to the County Executive; and
c.
The Architect, Engineer and Construction Management Consultant Selection
Committee shall have the power to establish the necessary rules and
regulation for the conduct of its business.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Sec. 30.06, County Veterinarian, which
immediately followed this section, was repealed 5-8-1978 by L.L. No.
5-1978.
