Ky. Rev. Stat. § 72.025

Current through Acts Received April 24, 2024

Section 72.025 - Circumstances requiring post-mortem examination to be performed by coroner

Coroners shall require a post-mortem examination to be performed in the following circumstances:

(1) When the death of a human being appears to be caused by homicide or violence;

(2) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of suicide;

(3) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of the presence of drugs or poisons in the body;

(4) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a motor vehicle accident and the operator of the motor vehicle left the scene of the accident or the body was found in or near a roadway or railroad;

(5) When the death of a human being occurs while the person is in a state mental institution or mental hospital when there is no previous medical history to explain the death, or while the person is in police custody, a jail or penal institution;

(6) When the death of a human being occurs in a motor vehicle accident and when an external examination of the body does not reveal a lethal traumatic injury;

(7) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a fire or explosion;

(8) When the death of a child appears to indicate child abuse prior to the death;

(9) When the manner of death appears to be other than natural;

(10) When human skeletonized remains are found;

(11) When post-mortem decomposition of a human corpse exists to the extent that external examination of the corpse cannot rule out injury or where the circumstances of death cannot rule out the commission of a crime;

(12) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of drowning;

(13) When the death of an infant appears to be caused by sudden infant death syndrome in that the infant has no previous medical history to explain the death;

(14) When the death of a human being occurs as a result of an accident;

(15) When the death of a human being occurs under the age of forty (40) and there is no past medical history to explain the death;

(16) When the death of a human being occurs at the work site and there is no apparent cause of death such as an injury or when industrial toxics may have contributed to the cause of death;

(17) When the body is to be cremated and there is no past medical history to explain the death;

(18) When the death of a human being is sudden and unexplained; and

(19) When the death of a human being occurs and the decedent is not receiving treatment by a licensed physician and there is no ascertainable medical history to indicate the cause of death.

KRS 72.025

Effective:7/15/1998
Amended 1998, Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 1, effective7/15/1998. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 316, sec. 1, effective 7/15/1986. -- Created 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 195, sec. 1, effective 7/15/1982.