Coroner and Medical Examiner Systems

A short time before the Norman Conquest, the Office of the Coroner was established in England. The coroners at that time were appointed by the king, and their duty was to represent and protect the interests of the Crown. Specifically, the coroner's function was to ensure the passage of the decedent's property to the legal recipient. As time passed, the Office assumed additional duties, and the coroners were empowered to select a jury to hear evidence in cases of unnatural deaths. These proceedings, called an inquest, were needed to decide the nature and circumstances of a death, and also to try to determine why a person died. If sufficient evidence was presented at an inquest to charge a person with the crime of felonious homicide, the sheriff would apprehend the responsible individual. The coroner would then seize the property of the accused and turn it over to the Crown. When an individual committed suicide, the coroner would also confiscate the property for the Crown. So, from its inception, the role of the coroner was to investigate the nature of deaths and to be responsible for the disposition of the decedent's physical possessions.

In England, the coroner system gradually changed over time, and many important duties were stripped from the Office. Today, the role of the coroner is to hold inquests only for deaths of a suspicious nature. The basic duties of the coroner system were introduced into America by the early English settlers. Thus, all of the duties of present-day coroners in the United States and Canada have a basis in medieval English law.

The Office of the Coroner in the United States is generally filled by an individual elected by the general voting population. The term of office is usually 4 years, with some variation at the local level. The qualifications for the position are quite straightforward, with minimum requirements being the attainment of a certain age and an eligible voting resident of the election district. However, many locations have recently enacted more stringent legislation that increases the basic educational background required and in some instances, a license to practice medicine or a doctorate in a forensically related area is required.

The basic duties of an elected coroner are to investigate deaths that occur within his or her jurisdiction; determine the cause and circumstances that led to the expiration; present the findings, if necessary, to the local prosecutor's office; and protect the property of the decedent. All properties are the responsibility of the coroner, and the Office must ensure that the disposition of said property is in concert and agreement with all existing law.

Different local governments have decided that the coroner system is not efficient for the duties it must perform. Specifically, the difficulty arises because in many situations, the coroner is not a licensed physician and thus is not able to certify the cause of death nor perform postmortem examinations. Secondarily, with the advances in medicine, a specialty has developed: the forensic pathologist. To accommodate the needs of large metropolitan jurisdictions, the medical examiner system has been created. This system shares some responsibilities with the coroner system, such as determination of the cause of death of an individual under investigation, but the medical examiner does not have the added task of protecting the property of the dead person.

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