611-B:1 Definitions. – In this chapter: I. " Acting chief medical examiner " means the physician designated pursuant to RSA 611-B:4. II. " Assistant deputy medical examiner " means a person appointed by the chief medical examiner pursuant to RSA 611-B:5. II-a. " Associate medical examiner " means the licensed physician certified by the […]
611-B:10 Administrative and Technical Assistance. – The chief medical examiner may employ adequate administrative, clerical, and technical assistants to carry out the purposes of this chapter, all of whom shall be in the classified service of the state. Source. 2007, 324:1, eff. Sept. 14, 2007.
611-B:11 Oath; Duty to Investigate in Medico-Legal Case. – I. Each medical examiner shall, before entering upon the duties of the office, take an oath of office. II. A medical examiner shall make investigations in medico-legal cases. A medico-legal case exists when death is pronounced or remains are found indicating that a human has […]
611-B:12 Mandatory Reporting of Medico-Legal Deaths. – It shall be the duty of anyone who finds the body of any person whose death is suspected to have been caused or to have occurred in any manner described in RSA 611-B:11, or who finds remains which are thought to be human to immediately notify the […]
611-B:13 Charge of Body. – Whenever the medical examiner has notice of the body of a person whose death is supposed to have been caused in a manner described in RSA 611-B:11, the medical examiner shall take charge of the body and may go to the place where such body lies. The medical examiner […]
611-B:14 Survey of Location. – I. Before a body is removed or disturbed, the medical examiner shall make or cause to be made a careful survey of the body and its surroundings, and reduce or cause to be reduced to writing an accurate and detailed description of the location, position, and condition of the […]
611-B:14-a Medical Records. – For the purpose of any medical examination into the cause and manner of death, and where medical treatment has been provided to the decedent who is the subject of the examination, upon written request of the supervising medical examiner any individual, partnership, association, corporation, institution, or governmental entity which has […]
611-B:15 Postmortem Examination. – I. If the medical examiner determines that an external examination of the body is necessary to determine the manner and cause of death, the medical examiner may arrange for the body to be transported to a funeral home or other facility where an examination can be conducted. In the event […]
611-B:16 Property of Deceased. – In all cases arising under the provisions of this chapter, the medical examiner shall take charge of any money and other personal property of the deceased found upon or near the body. Unless held as evidence, all money and other personal property shall be released with the body to […]
611-B:17 Performance of Autopsies. – I. If the supervising medical examiner, attorney general, or county attorney deems that an autopsy is necessary, he or she shall direct that one be made. The commissioner of the department of health and human services may, pursuant to RSA 126-A:5, V, request an autopsy of any individual who […]
611-B:18 Retention and Disposal of Organs, Unidentified Remains, Body Fragments, and Body Fluids. – I. Except as provided in RSA 227-C:8-a through RSA 227-C:8-g, whenever unidentified human skeletal remains are recovered, the chief medical examiner may store the remains, release them to an educational institution, direct that they be interred in an appropriate resting […]
611-B:19 Duty of the State Forensic Science Laboratory. – Whenever the supervising medical examiner requires expert investigation, either chemical or pathological, of any substance or article preserved from an autopsy, such investigation may be made at the forensic science laboratory of the department of safety established in RSA 106-B:2-a, without charge or expense to […]
611-B:2 Chief Medical Examiner; Authority; Rulemaking. – I. There is hereby established within the department of justice the office of chief medical examiner. The office shall be under the immediate supervision of a person who shall be known as the "chief medical examiner," and who shall be a duly licensed physician and certified by […]
611-B:20 Report to County Attorney. – If, upon completion of a death investigation, the medical examiner is of the opinion that the death of the person was caused or occurred in any manner described in RSA 611-B:11, the medical examiner shall file a record of the case with the county attorney or the attorney […]
611-B:21 Autopsy and Investigative Reports. – I. The medical examiner shall charge a reasonable fee for each autopsy report made available upon request. Such fee shall be credited to the medico-legal investigation fund established under RSA 611-B:28. II. Homicide autopsy reports shall be made available only to the department of justice unless a written […]
611-B:22 Report to Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. – In any case in which the deceased whose death is being investigated is a child whose death is determined to have been the result of sudden unexplained infant death, the supervising medical examiner shall file a record of the case with the bureau of […]
611-B:23 Dental Examinations. – In deaths investigated by a medical examiner, when the identity of a dead body cannot be established by visual means, fingerprints, or other identifying data, the medical examiner shall have a qualified dentist, as determined by the supervising medical examiner, carry out a dental examination of the dead body. If […]
611-B:24 Release of Body. – The medical examiner, upon the completion of the investigation, shall release the dead body, upon their claim therefor, to one of the following persons: I. The husband or wife, as the case may be. II. The next of kin. III. Any friend of the deceased. Source. 2007, 324:1, eff. […]
611-B:25 Unclaimed Body. – If a dead body is unidentified or unclaimed for a period of not less than 48 hours following completion of the death investigation, the medical examiner shall release the body to the overseer of public welfare in the town or, in the case of an unincorporated place, to a county […]
611-B:26 Death Record. – When the body is released pursuant to RSA 611-B:24 or RSA 611-B:25, the medical examiner shall provide to the person taking custody of the body a state of New Hampshire death certificate form with the pronouncing and certifying sections completed. Source. 2007, 324:1, eff. Sept. 14, 2007.
