San Mateo County Municipal Code Ch. 2.45 Coroner

The coroner shall be vested with the powers and perform the duties prescribed by state law and ordinances not inconsistent therewith which shall include, but not by way of limitation:

(a) 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 ten 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, alcoholism, drug addiction, strangulation or aspiration; 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 under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground to suspect that the death was caused by the criminal act of another, or any deaths reported by physicians or other persons having knowledge of death or inquiry by the coroner;

(b) Upon being informed of a death and finding it to fall into the classification of deaths requiring his inquiry, to proceed to where the body lies, examine the body, make identification, and, as the circumstances warrant, either order its removal for further investigation or disposition, or release the body to the next of kin;

(c) In any death into which he is to inquire, to take charge of any and all personal effects, valuables and property of the deceased at the scene of death and hold or safeguard them until lawful disposition thereof can be made;

(d) If deemed necessary, to lock and seal the door or doors prohibiting entrance to the premises, pending arrival of a legally authorized representative of the deceased;

(e) At his discretion, to take possession of the body which shall include the authority to exhume such body, order it removed to a convenient place, and make, or cause to be made a post-mortem examination or autopsy thereon, and make or cause to be made an analysis of the stomach, stomach contents, blood, organs, fluids or tissues of the body;

(f) To retain only such tissues as necessary to determine the cause of death;

(g) To maintain and safeguard such records as required by state law or by ordinance not inconsistent therewith;

(h) To certify the cause of death in conformity with facts ascertained from inquiry, autopsy and other scientific findings, or from statements of relatives, persons last in attendance or persons present at the time of death, after due medical consultation and opinion has been given by one qualified and licensed to practice medicine and so recorded in the records of death, providing such information affords clear grounds to establish the correct medical cause of death within accepted medical practice and within the requirements for accuracy prescribed by the Division of Vital Statistics of the State Department of Public Health;

(i) To hold inquest into a death if, in his discretion, the circumstances warrant, or if requested to do so by the Attorney General, the District Attorney, Sheriff, city prosecutor, city attorney, or a chief of police of a city in the County in which the coroner has jurisdiction;

(j) In accordance with state law, and the absence or willful refusal of any person legally required to perform the service, to take charge of and decently inter the body of all indigent or unclaimed dead within his jurisdiction, and, if those legally required to perform the service willfully refuse to do so, to take such action as necessary to legally recover County funds expended for the purpose;

(k) To turn over to the public administrator for action any assets in his possession allegedly belonging to the indigent or unclaimed dead to initiate legal proceedings to liquidate and recover for the County funds expended for the purpose of an indigent or unclaimed dead disposal;

(l) To perform other duties prescribed by law or ordinance not inconsistent therewith.

(Ord. 4324, 08/15/06)

Except as otherwise specifically provided by other ordinance or state law, the following fees shall be charged for services rendered by the Coroner as specified.

All cases brought into the Coroner's Office shall be billed for transportation, personnel handling, and storage costs, except for decedents under 14 years of age, homicides, and in custody or officer-involved cases. However, for all cases pouch or bags fees will be charged.

(Ord. 4324, 08/15/06; Ord. 4443, 9/30/08)