Thanks to decades of mystery novels on bookshelves and police procedurals on television, the coroner’s report is a record familiar to most people. Even though the term is familiar, the contents of a coroner’s report and its use in legal proceedings are less familiar to those who don’t work directly with these documents.
For legal cases involving intentional or accidental death and for insurance claims, The Records Company retrieves coroner’s reports and autopsy reports. Laws governing each of these documents and their contents vary from state to state. For example, some states and jurisdictions include autopsy reports as part of a standard coroner’s report but some don’t. Even if you’re familiar with coroner’s reports in your own state, retrieval can be time-consuming, and the process may get complicated if you need a report from another location. That’s where our experts can assist you. We navigate the regulations and gather all the documents you need, leaving you free to focus on your clients’ needs, not the paperwork.
Coroner’s Reports
The terms coroner’s report and autopsy report are often used interchangeably, but they aren’t necessarily the same. A coroner’s report is a legal document issued at the county level by the coroner, an administrator or law enforcement officer who may or may not have medical training. When someone dies without a doctor or medical personnel present, it usually falls to the coroner to determine cause of death. County coroners document homicides, accidental deaths, and other sudden deaths whose cause is unknown. The coroner’s report formally identifies the deceased and states the cause of death. A coroner’s report is sometimes filed as a public record, depending on its contents, but this status varies by state.
Autopsy Reports
Medical examiners or forensic pathologists conduct autopsies if the circumstances of a death are not clear or are clearly the result of unlawful activity. In the United States, each state sets its own standards to mandate whether an autopsy is required when someone dies. Autopsies are often ordered by coroners, district attorneys, or other law enforcement entities. Even if law enforcement doesn’t order an autopsy, families or designated next-of-kin may request an autopsy.
Autopsies are surgical examinations of a body that catalogs comprehensive details about the condition of the deceased from the clothing they’re wearing to the condition of their organs. Some states treat autopsy reports as public records, and others limit access to next-of-kin, their legal representatives, or law enforcement.
Your case or claim may require a coroner’s report, an autopsy report, or both. The Records Company can help you determine what you need and retrieve your records from anywhere in the US.