CORONER DIVISION
- Frequently Asked Questions
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Organization
The Coroner Division is an investigative unit responsible for carrying out the statutory duties of the Coroner. Those duties include investigation into the circumstances surrounding all deaths falling within the Coroner's jurisdiction for the purpose of determining the cause, manner and time of death. Medicolegal death investigations are conducted county-wide on all homicides, suicides, accidents, suspicious and unexplained deaths. Other duties include establishing the identity of the decedent, notification of the next of kin, safeguarding personal property and completion of mandatory records.
Coroner Jurisdiction
The division is also proactive in the community, participating in programs aimed at reducing youthful drunk driving and drug use; identifying consumer products causing fatal injury; prevention of domestic violence, drug abuse and elder abuse; and providing education and training for the medical, legal and law enforcement professionals. The Coroner also joins in a cooperative relationship with non-profit organ and tissue procurement agencies.
The El Dorado County Sheriff/Coroner Office is mandated by the California Government Code § 27491 et seq. to determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of sudden or unexplained deaths in El Dorado County.
Government Code - State of California
Reportable Deaths (Coroner's Cases)
Section 27491. (Relevant Sections)
It shall be the duty of the coroner to inquire into and determine the circumstances, manner, and cause of all:
· violent, sudden, or unusual deaths;
· unattended deaths;
· deaths wherein the deceased has not been attended by a physician in the 20
days before death;
· deaths related to or following:
· known or suspected self-induced or criminal abortion;
· known or suspected homicide, suicide, or accidental poisoning;
· deaths known or suspected as resulting in whole or in part from or related to
accident or injury either old or recent;
· deaths due to drowning, fire, hanging, gunshot, stabbing, cutting, exposure,
starvation, acute alcoholism, drug addiction, strangulation, aspiration, or where
the suspected cause of death is sudden infant death syndrome;
· death in whole or in part occasioned by criminal means;
· deaths associated with a known or alleged rape or crime against nature;
· deaths in prison or while under sentence;
· deaths known or suspected as due to contagious disease and constituting a
public hazard;
· deaths from occupational diseases or occupational hazards;
· deaths of patients in state mental hospitals serving the mentally disabled and
operated by the State Department of Mental Health;
· deaths of patients in state hospitals serving the developmentally disabled and
operated by the State Department of Developmental Services;
· deaths under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground to suspect
that the death was caused by the criminal act of another; and
· any deaths reported by physicians or other persons having knowledge of death
for inquiry by coroner.
Any funeral director, physician, or other person who has charge of a deceased person's body, when death occurred as a result of any of the causes or circumstances described in this section, shall immediately notify the coroner. Any person who does not notify the coroner as required by this section is guilty of a misdemeanor.
27491.2.(b)
For purposes of inquiry, the body of one who is known to be dead from any of the
causes or under any of the circumstances described in Section 27491 shall not be disturbed or moved from the position or place of death without permission of the coroner or the coroner's appointed deputy. Any violation of this subdivision is a misdemeanor.
Contact Information
Mailing Address El Dorado County Sheriff/Coroner
300 Fair Lane
Placerville, Ca. 95667
General Phone Number (530) 642-4700
Reporting Deaths (530) 621-6600
Records Section: Ordering Reports (530) 621-5703
Fax (530) 295-2595
E-Mail webmaster@edso.org
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