AS Title 12, Chapter 65: Death Investigations and Medical Examiners

Article 1. Medical Examiner; Procedures after Death. Chapter 65. Death Investigations and Medical Examiners. Sec. 12.65.005. Duty to notify state medical examiner. (a) Unless the person has reasonable grounds to believe that notice has already been given, a person who attends a death or has knowledge of a death, in addition to notifying a peace officer, shall immediately notify the state medical examiner when the death appears to have (1) been caused by unknown or criminal means, during the commission of a crime, or by suicide, accident, or poisoning; (2) occurred under suspicious or unusual circumstances or occurred suddenly when the decedent was in apparent good health; (3) been unattended by a practicing physician or occurred less than 24 hours after the deceased was admitted to a medical facility; (4) been associated with a diagnostic or therapeutic procedure; (5) resulted from a disease that constitutes a threat to public health; (6) been caused by a disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting from employment; (7) occurred in a jail or corrections facility owned or operated by the state or a political subdivision of the state or in a facility for the placement of persons in the custody or under the supervision of the state; (8) occurred in a foster home; (9) occurred in a mental institution or mental health treatment facility; (10) occurred while the deceased was in the custody of, or was being taken into the custody of, the state or a political subdivision of the state or a public officer or agent of the state or a political subdivision of the state; or (11) been of a child under 18 years of age or under the legal custody of the Department of Family and Community Services, subject to the jurisdiction of AS 47.10 or AS 47.12 , unless the (A) child's death resulted from a natural disease process and was medically expected; and (B) the child was under supervised medical care during the 24 hours before the death. (b) A person who attends a death or has knowledge of a death occurring in circumstances other than those enumerated in (a) of this section may notify the state medical examiners of the death if, in the person's opinion, a death investigation under AS 12.65.020 — 12.65.025 may be appropriate. (c) The body of a person whose death has been or should be reported to the state medical examiner under this section may not be moved or otherwise disturbed without the permission of the state medical examiner. Sec. 12.65.007. No duty for peace officer to respond to the scene of an expected home death. (a) A peace officer is not required by state law to respond to the scene of an expected home death if (1) the death was expected to occur due to the dead person's state of health before death; (2) the death occurred at the dead person's home as expected due to the dead person's state of health; (3) a person authorized to determine and pronounce death determines and pronounces the death; and (4) a form signed by the dead person's physician concerning the physician's expectation that the death would occur due to the person's state of health and that it would occur at home was, at the time of death, on file with the law enforcement agency for that jurisdiction. (b) This section does not (1) prohibit a person from requesting a peace officer to respond to the scene described in (a) of this section if, in the person's opinion, a death investigation by a peace officer may be appropriate due to suspicious or unusual circumstances; or (2) relieve a person of the duty to notify the medical examiner and a peace officer of a death that is described in AS 12.65.005 (a). Sec. 12.65.010. Appointment of medical examiner. [Repealed, § 18 ch 103 SLA 1996.] Sec. 12.65.015. State medical examiner and deputies. (a) The commissioner of health shall appoint a state medical examiner to perform the duties set out in AS 12.65.015 — 12.65.025. The commissioner shall also appoint a deputy medical examiner, and may appoint assistant medical examiners, to perform or assist the state medical examiner in performing these duties. To be eligible for the position of medical examiner, deputy medical examiner, or assistant medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state. The state medical examiner, deputy medical examiner, and assistant medical examiners are in the exempt service under AS 39.25.110 . (b) The state medical examiner and the deputy medical examiner must be physicians licensed to practice in the state who have education and experience in forensic pathology. (c) The state medical examiner and deputy medical examiner shall perform the duties assigned to the medical examiner and deputy medical examiner under AS 12.65.020 and regulations implementing that section, and other duties as assigned by the commissioner of health. (d) The state medical examiner may, through contracts for services, appoint local, regional, and district medical examiners throughout the state to perform or assist in performing the duties assigned to the state medical examiner. To be eligible for appointment as a local, regional, or district medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state. An appointment under this subsection may be for a term of up to two years. (e) The state medical examiner shall facilitate the formation of local, regional, or district child fatality review teams to assist local, regional, and district medical examiners in determining the cause and manner of deaths of children under 18 years of age. If a team is formed under this subsection, the team shall have the same access to information, confidentiality requirements, and immunity as provided to the state child fatality review team under AS 12.65.140 . A meeting of a team formed under this subsection is closed to the public and not subject to the provisions of AS 44.62.310 — 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act). A review by a local, regional, or district child fatality review team does not relieve the state child fatality review team under AS 12.65.120 of the responsibility for reviewing a death under AS 12.65.130 . A person on a local, regional, or district child fatality review team is not eligible to receive compensation from the state for service on the team, but is eligible for travel expenses and per diem from the Department of Health under AS 39.20.180 . A person on a team formed under this subsection serves at the pleasure of the state medical examiner. Sec. 12.65.020. Medical death investigations. (a) When a death is reported to the state medical examiner under AS 12.65.005 , the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall perform a medical death investigation. When a person dies under circumstances that, in the opinion of the state medical examiner, warrant an investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may perform a medical death investigation. In performing the investigation, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may (1) order that the body of the person who has died not be moved or otherwise disturbed without the permission of the medical examiner; (2) request a peace officer to secure the scene and perform an on-scene investigation; (3) view the remains of the deceased person; (4) order the remains of the deceased to be transported to another location; (5) perform a post mortem examination; (6) perform an autopsy; (7) take possession of property considered necessary for the investigation; (8) subpoena and examine a person or record necessary in the opinion of the medical examiner to determine the material facts relating to the death; and (9) take other actions appropriate under the circumstances to determine the cause and manner of death. (b) When the state medical examiner or deputy medical examiner has completed an investigation or made the inquiry considered appropriate by the examiner, the examiner shall prepare a report of the examiner's findings and conclusions. If the findings and conclusions indicate that the death may have been caused by criminal means, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall submit a copy of the report to the district attorney responsible for prosecutions in the location where the death occurred. The investigative report is a privileged and confidential document, not subject to public disclosure under AS 40.25 . It may be disclosed to public officers and employees for a public purpose and, when doing so will not interfere with an ongoing investigation or prosecution, to a person who is related to the deceased or who has a financial or personal interest in the estate of the deceased person. (c) The state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, or a prosecuting attorney may petition the court to hold a death inquest under AS 09.55.062 if the findings and conclusions of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner, in the opinion of the state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, or prosecuting attorney, warrant the inquest. Otherwise, the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner shall cause a certificate of death for the deceased person to be completed and filed as prescribed by law. (d) The state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may direct the state registrar of vital statistics to amend a death certificate when, in the opinion of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner, the death certificate is incomplete or inaccurate. (e) The state medical examiner may enter into agreements for services to be performed by persons in the course of medical investigations, and the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner may call upon public employees, including a peace officer or a village public safety officer, to perform or assist in performing the duties specified in this section. (f) The state medical examiner, the deputy medical examiner, and individuals who perform or assist the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner in performing the duties of the state medical examiner or the deputy medical examiner under this section are immune from civil liability based on determining the cause and manner of a person's death. (g) The Department of Health shall adopt regulations to implement this section. Sec. 12.65.025. Post mortem examinations. (a) The state medical examiner shall designate the facilities at which post mortem examinations and autopsies ordered under this chapter may be performed consistent with this section. The Department of Health shall pay the costs of (1) post mortem examinations and autopsies ordered under this chapter; (2) related transportation to the location where the post mortem examination is conducted and then to the community closest to where the death occurred, except that transportation costs to another requested location shall be paid to the extent that the costs do not exceed the costs that would otherwise have been paid by the department for returning the body to the community closest to where the death occurred; (3) embalming, if embalming is required by law; and (4) cosmetology necessary to make the head, face, neck, and hands of the deceased presentable if those parts of the body are disfigured by the post mortem examination. (b) The Department of Health shall provide clothing and a casket for the deceased if the person legally responsible for the burial, other than the state, is unable to pay for clothing and a casket and the responsible person does not object. (c) Instead of paying the cost of services listed under (a)(3), (a)(4), and (b) of this section, the Department of Health may pay for the cremation and inurnment of the deceased if (1) the person legally responsible for the burial requests or approves the cremation and inurnment; and (2) the cost to the department of the cremation and inurnment does not exceed the cost to the state of services listed under (a)(3), (a)(4), and (b) of this section that the department would otherwise pay for or provide for the deceased. (d) The Department of Health shall establish the maximum amounts or rates that the department will pay for services under this section. Facilities designated under (a) of this section, as a condition of their designation, shall agree to accept reimbursement from the department as payment in full for services provided by the facility under this section, and may not seek reimbursement for those services from a third party. (e) The state medical examiner shall designate a location for conducting a post mortem examination that is in the community closest to where the death occurred if (1) the state medical examiner has verified that a facility with adequate technology, personnel, and training is available at the location to enable the state medical examiner to direct a remote examination; (2) the facility meets applicable standards, including inspection and accreditation, for conducting remote post mortem examinations established in the Forensic Autopsy Performance Standards by the National Association of Medical Examiners; and (3) the cost of conducting the examination in the community closest to where the death occurred is less than the cost of conducting the examination or autopsy at another location, including the cost of transporting the body to and from another location to conduct the examination. (f) The Department of Health shall provide to a person responsible for the burial of a body written notice describing the duties and procedures of the state medical examiner and the department under this chapter. The notice must explain, in a form and language that is designed to be easy to understand, the availability of (1) an option to release the body after examination and autopsy to a location other than a mortuary without a recommendation or stated preference to do otherwise; (2) the department's coverage of costs associated with the examination or autopsy, transportation of the body, and necessary cosmetology as provided under (a) of this section; (3) clothing and a casket required under (b) of this section; (4) transportation to the community closest to where the death occurred or to another location; (5) a burial-transit permit as provided under AS 18.50.250 ; and (6) a death certificate as provided under AS 18.50.230 . (g) A person is “unable to pay” under this section if the person (1) is eligible for assistance under AS 47.25.120 — 47.25.300; or (2) is otherwise unable to provide clothing and a casket for the deceased. Secs. 12.65.030 — 12.65.090. Coroners duties and powers. [Repealed, § 18 ch 103 SLA 1996. For current law, see AS 09.55.062 — 09.55.069.] Sec. 12.65.100. Unclaimed bodies. When a person dies and no person appears to claim the body for burial, and no provision is made for the body under AS 13.52 , the Department of Health, upon notification, shall request a court order authorizing the body to be plainly and decently buried or cremated and the remains decently interred. A judicial officer shall issue the requested order upon the sworn testimony or statement of a representative of the Department of Health that a person has not appeared to claim the body for burial and provision is not made for the body under AS 13.52 . Sec. 12.65.105. Release of property to temporary custodian. A person having possession of tangible personal property of a decedent may release the property to a temporary custodian willing to take custody of and preserve the property pending the appointment of a personal representative or other transfer under AS 13.16 . Upon execution of an affidavit that meets the requirements of court rules adopted to implement this section, the person delivering possession of the property is discharged from further obligation as though the person had dealt with the personal representative of the estate, and the temporary custodian is answerable and accountable for the property to any personal representative of the estate or to another person having a superior right. Sec. 12.65.110. Inventory and disposition of property. If a body is unclaimed as described in AS 12.65.100 and money or other property belonging to the deceased is found, the public administrator shall inventory it and take it into possession for disposition under AS 13.16 . Article 2. Child Fatality Review Teams. Sec. 12.65.120. State child fatality review team. (a) The state child fatality review team is established in the Department of Health to assist the state medical examiner. The team is composed of (1) the following persons, or that person's designee: (A) the state medical examiner; (B) a state prosecutor with experience in homicide prosecutions, appointed by the attorney general; (C) an investigator with the state troopers who has experience in conducting investigations of homicide, child abuse, or child neglect, appointed by the commissioner of public safety; (D) a social worker with the Department of Family and Community Services who has experience in conducting investigations of child abuse and neglect, appointed by the commissioner of family and community services; (2) the following persons, or that person's designee, appointed by the commissioner of health: (A) a physician licensed under AS 08.64 who (i) specializes in neonatology or perinatology; or (ii) is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics; (B) a municipal law enforcement officer with experience in conducting investigations of homicide, child abuse, or child neglect; (C) other persons, including educators, whose experience and expertise would, as determined by the commissioner of health, contribute to the effectiveness of the team. (b) A team member is not eligible to receive compensation from the state for service on the team. A member appointed under (a)(2) of this section (1) is eligible for travel expenses and per diem from the Department of Health under AS 39.20.180 ; and (2) serves at the pleasure of the commissioner of health. (c) In addition to the persons specified in (a) of this section, the team may invite a person to participate as a member of the team if the person has expertise that would be helpful to the team in a review of a specific death. A person participating under this subsection is eligible only for travel expenses and per diem from the Department of Health under AS 39.20.180 . (d) The state medical examiner serves as chair of the team. Sec. 12.65.130. State child fatality review team duties. (a) The state child fatality review team shall (1) assist the state medical examiner in determining the cause and manner of the deaths in this state of children under 18 years of age; (2) unless the child's death is currently being investigated by a law enforcement agency, review a report of a death of a child within 48 hours of the report being received by the medical examiner if (A) the death is of a child under 10 years of age; (B) the deceased child, a sibling, or a member of the deceased child's household (i) is in the legal or physical custody of the state under AS 47 or under similar custody of another state or political subdivision of a state; or (ii) has been the subject of a report of harm under AS 47.17 or a child abuse or neglect investigation by the Department of Family and Community Services or by a similar child protective service in this or another state; (C) a protective order issued, filed, or recognized under AS 18.66.100 , 18.66.110, or 18.66.140 has been in effect during the previous year in which the petitioner or respondent was a member of the deceased child's immediate family or household; or (D) the child's death occurred in a mental health institution, mental health treatment facility, foster home, or other residential or child care facility, including a day care facility; (3) review records concerning (A) abuse or neglect of the deceased child or another child in the deceased child's household; (B) the criminal history or juvenile delinquency of a person who may have caused the death of the child and of persons in the deceased child's household; and (C) a history of domestic violence involving a person who may have caused the death of the child or involving persons in the deceased child's household, including records in the central registry of protective orders under AS 18.65.540 ; (4) if insufficient information exists to adequately determine the cause and manner of death, recommend to the state medical examiner that additional information be obtained under AS 12.65.020 ; and (5) if a local, regional, or district child fatality review team has not been appointed under AS 12.65.015 or is not available, be available to provide recommendations, suggestions, and advice to state or municipal law enforcement or social service agencies in the investigation of deaths of children. (b) The state child fatality review team may (1) collect data and analyze and interpret information regarding deaths of children in this state; (2) develop state and local data bases on deaths of children in this state; (3) develop a model protocol for the investigation of deaths of children; and (4) periodically issue reports to the public containing statistical data and other information that does not violate federal or state law concerning confidentiality of the children and their families involved in the reviews; these reports may include (A) identification of trends, patterns, and risk factors in deaths of the children; (B) analyses of the incidence and causes of deaths of children in this state; (C) recommendations for improving the coordination of government services and investigations; and (D) recommendations for prevention of future deaths of children. Sec. 12.65.140. Records; information; meetings; confidentiality; immunity. (a) The state child fatality review team and its members shall have access to all information and records to which the state medical examiner has access under this chapter. The state child fatality review team and its members shall maintain the confidentiality of information and records concerning deaths under review, except when disclosures may be necessary to enable the team to carry out its duties under this chapter. However, the team and its members may not disclose a record that is confidential under federal or state law. (b) Except for public reports issued by the team, records and other information collected by the team or a member of the team related to duties under this chapter are confidential and not subject to public disclosure under AS 40.25.100 — 40.25.295 (Alaska Public Records Act). (c) Meetings of the state child fatality review team are closed to the public and are not subject to the provisions of AS 44.62.310 — 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act). (d) The determinations, conclusions, and recommendations of the state child fatality review team, or its members, are not admissible in a civil or criminal proceeding. Members may not be compelled to disclose their determinations, conclusions, recommendations, discussions, or thought processes through discovery or testimony in any civil or criminal proceeding. Records and information collected by the state child fatality review team are not subject to discovery or subpoena in connection with a civil or criminal proceeding. (e) Notwithstanding (d) of this section, the state medical examiner may testify in a civil or criminal proceeding even though the death was reviewed by the state child fatality review team under AS 12.65.130 and information received from the review formed a basis of the state medical examiner's testimony. (f) A person who is a member or an employee of, or who furnishes services to or advises, the state child fatality review team is not liable for damages or other relief in an action brought by reason of the performance of a duty, a function, or an activity of the review team.