There shall be a Medical Examiner who shall
be appointed by the County Executive, subject to confirmation by the
County Legislature. The Medical Examiner shall serve for a term of
four years and be a physician duly licensed to practice in the State
of New York. He or she shall be qualified to perform an autopsy and
dissect dead bodies of human beings and have adequate knowledge of
forensic medicine.
The Medical Examiner shall have all the powers and duties and shall be subject to all the obligations and liabilities heretofore or hereafter lawfully granted or imposed by the Charter, this code, local law, ordinance or resolution of the County Legislature or any applicable provision of any act of the State Legislature not inconsistent with the Charter and this code. The Medical Examiner shall also perform such other related functions as the County Legislature or the County Executive may designate in order to implement and accomplish the policies and responsibilities the County Legislature has prescribed. Such powers, duties, obligations and liabilities shall include but shall not be limited to any power, duty, obligation or liability granted or imposed upon a Medical Examiner by the County Law or any other applicable law not inconsistent with the Charter or this code. The Medical Examiner shall investigate deaths when such investigation is required pursuant to §
5-108 of this article and applicable state law.
The Medical Examiner shall be the keeper of
the morgue, if any, and appoint and have charge of the morgue staff.
The Medical Examiner shall investigate deaths when such investigation is required pursuant to §
5-108 of this article.
A Medical Examiner has the jurisdiction and
authority to investigate the death of every person dying within his
or her County or whose body is found within the County, which is or
appears to be:
A. A violent death, whether by criminal violence, suicide
or casualty.
B. A death caused by unlawful act or criminal neglect.
C. A death occurring in a suspicious, unusual or unexplained
manner.
D. 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 form as prescribed
by the Commissioner of Health, can be found.
E. A death of a person confined in a public institution
other than a hospital, infirmary or nursing home.
Whenever in the County any person shall die
from criminal violence or criminal neglect or by suicide or in any
suspicious and unusual manner, any officer or person having knowledge
of such a death shall immediately notify the office of the Medical
Examiner, and immediately upon receipt of such notification, the Medical
Examiner or a Deputy Medical Examiner shall go to the dead body and
take charge of the same. Such Examiner shall fully investigate the
facts concerning the circumstances of the death.
If, in the opinion of such Medical Examiner,
an autopsy is necessary, the same shall be performed by the Medical
Examiner, a Deputy Medical Examiner or other person authorized by
the Medical Examiner to perform autopsies. A detailed description
of the findings, written during the process of such autopsy, and the
conclusions drawn therefrom shall be filed in the office of the Medical
Examiner. If, when the duties of the Medical Examiner with regard
to the body are completed, the body remains unclaimed, the Medical
Examiner shall have the authority to make an order for the disposition
thereof as a County charge.
The Medical Examiner shall keep full and complete
records, properly indexed, stating the name, if known, of every person
whose body is examined, the place where the body was found and the
date of death and shall attach thereto the original report of the
Medical Examiner and detailed findings of the autopsy, if any. The
Medical Examiner shall deliver to the District Attorney copies of
all records relating to every such death within 30 days after the
occurrence of such death.
On or before March 1 of each year, the Medical
Examiner shall make an annual report for the immediately preceding
calendar year, covering generally the work of his or her office. He
or she shall make such other reports at such times as may be required
by the County Legislature, County Executive or any other applicable
law. Copies of all reports shall be filed with the Clerk to the County
Legislature and the County Executive.