§61-12-14. County Coroners; Appointment, Oath, etc.; Duties; Fees
The county commission of every county may appoint a coroner for the county, who shall hold the office at the pleasure of the commission and shall take the oath of office prescribed for other county officers. The county coroners shall be certified in medicolegal investigations, be continually available to perform the duties required under this […]
§61-12-15. Disposition of Unidentified and Unclaimed Remains
(a) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall cremate unclaimed human remains and shall bury unidentified human remains from its facilities. (b) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, with the assistance of the city of Charleston, shall locate an appropriate cemetery. (c) Unidentified remains shall be buried after 6 months and after efforts […]
§61-12-16. Disposition of Unidentified or Unclaimed Remains Pursuant to Legislative Rule
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of 29A-3-1 et seq. of this code which provide for the disposition of unidentified or unclaimed remains in the possession of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, in a manner which does not conflict with the […]
§61-12-5. Certain Salaries and Expenses Paid by State
The salaries of the chief medical examiner, the salaries of all assistants and employees employed in the central office and laboratory, the expenses of maintaining the central office and laboratory and the cost of pathological, bacteriological and toxicological services rendered by persons other than the chief medical examiner and his or her assistants shall be […]
§61-12-6. Chief Medical Examiner May Obtain Additional Services and Facilities
The chief medical examiner may employ and pay qualified pathologists and toxicologists to make autopsies and such pathological and chemical studies and investigations as he or she considers necessary. Qualified pathologists shall hold board certification or board eligibility in forensic pathology, or equivalent, or have completed an American Board of Pathology fellowship in forensic pathology.
§61-12-7. Medical Examiners
(a) The chief medical examiner shall appoint for each county in the state a county medical examiner to serve for a term of three years under the supervision of the chief medical examiner. A county medical examiner shall be medically trained and licensed by the State of West Virginia as a physician, registered nurse, paramedic, […]
§61-12-8. Certain Deaths to Be Reported to Medical Examiners; Failure to Report Deaths; Investigations and Reports; Authority of Medical Examiners to Administer Oaths, etc., Fees
(a) When any person dies in this state from violence, or by apparent suicide, or suddenly when in apparent good health, or when unattended by a physician, or when an inmate of a public institution, or from some disease which might constitute a threat to public health, or in any suspicious, unusual or unnatural manner, […]
§61-12-9. Permits Required for Cremation; Fee
(a) It is the duty of any person cremating, or causing or requesting the cremation of, the body of any dead person who died in this state, to secure a permit for the cremation from the Chief Medical Examiner, the county medical examiner or county coroner of the county wherein the death occurred. Any person […]
§61-12-10. When Autopsies Made and by Whom Performed; Records of Date Investigated; Copies of Records and Information; Reporting Requirements
(a) If in the opinion of the chief medical examiner, or of the county medical examiner of the county in which the death in question occurred, it is advisable and in the public interest that an autopsy be made, or if an autopsy is requested by either the prosecuting attorney or the judge of the […]
§61-12-10a. Costs of Transportation of Bodies; When State Will Pay; Amount of Payment
Whenever an examination of a body is ordered pursuant to 61-12-8 and 61-12-10 of this code and the body of the deceased is transported to the central laboratory or other place of examination, the reasonable cost of the transportation shall be paid by the state out of funds appropriated to or for the use of […]