Vermont § 5205 - Death certificate when no attending physician and in other circumstances; autopsy

§ 5205. Death certificate when no attending physician and in other circumstances; autopsy

• (a) When a person dies from violence, or suddenly when in apparent good health or when
  unattended by a physician or a recognized practitioner of a well-established church,
  or by casualty, or by suicide or as a result of injury or when in jail or prison,
  or any psychiatric hospital, or in any unusual, unnatural, or suspicious manner, or
  in circumstances involving a hazard to public health, welfare, or safety, the head
  of the household, the jailer, or the superintendent of a psychiatric hospital where
  such death occurred, or the next of kin, or the person discovering the body or any
  doctor notified of the death, shall immediately notify the medical examiner who resides
  nearest the town where the death occurred and immediately upon being notified, such
  medical examiner shall notify the State’s Attorney of the county in which the death
  occurred. The State’s Attorney shall thereafter be in charge of the body and shall
  issue such instructions covering the care or removal of the body as he or she shall
  deem appropriate until he or she releases same. (b) The medical examiner and a designated law enforcement officer shall thereupon together
  immediately make a proper preliminary investigation. (c) Unless the cause and manner of death is uncertain, such medical examiner shall complete
  and sign a certificate of death. The medical examiner and the designated law enforcement
  officer shall each submit a report of investigation to the State’s Attorney and the
  Chief Medical Examiner. If, however, the cause or circumstances of death are uncertain,
  he or she shall immediately so advise the State’s Attorney of the county where the
  death occurred and notify the Chief Medical Examiner. (d) The State’s Attorney of each county, with the advice of the Commissioner of Public
  Safety or his or her designee, the sheriff, and the Chief of Police of any established
  Police Department, shall prepare a list of law enforcement officers in his or her
  county qualified to make an investigation and report. This list shall be made available
  to the medical officers concerned and such other persons as the State’s Attorney deems
  proper. (e) If an undertaker or embalmer shall, in the course of his or her employment, find evidence
  of physical violence on the body or evidence of an unlawful act sufficient to indicate
  to such a person that death might have been the result of an unlawful act, he or she
  shall immediately notify the State’s Attorney of the county where the body is then
  located and shall proceed no further with the preparation and embalming process of
  such body until permitted to do so by the State’s Attorney. (f) The State’s Attorney or Chief Medical Examiner, if either deem it necessary and in
  the interest of public health, welfare, and safety, or in furtherance of the administration
  of the law, may order an autopsy to be performed by the Chief Medical Examiner or
  under the Chief Medical Examiner’s direction. Upon completion of the autopsy, the
  Chief Medical Examiner shall submit a report to such State’s Attorney and the Attorney
  General and shall submit a report of death to the State Registrar. Upon the written
  request of a federal prosecutor or a prosecutor in another state, the Chief Medical
  Examiner shall submit a report of a death to the requesting office. (g) When a person who is committed to the custody of the Department of Corrections or
  who is under the supervision of the Department of Corrections dies, the Commissioner
  of Corrections may request to be provided with a copy of any and all reports generated
  pursuant to subsection (f) of this section. No such request shall be granted where
  the medical examiner is unable to determine a manner of death or the manner of death
  is classified as a homicide. In other circumstances, the request shall be granted
  in the discretion of the Medical Examiner for good cause shown. Reports disclosed
  pursuant to this subsection shall remain confidential as required by law and shall
  not be considered to be a public record pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 317. (Amended 1967, No. 254 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1-3, eff. Feb. 20, 1968; 1969, No. 128, § 2; 1969, No. 265 (Adj. Sess.), § 12; 1971, No. 33, § 7; 1991, No. 191 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 19, 1992; 2003, No. 128 (Adj. Sess.), § 2, eff. May 24, 2004; 2003, No. 157 (Adj. Sess.), § 13; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 99; 2017, No. 46, § 50, eff. July 1, 2019; 2021, No. 115 (Adj. Sess.), § 11, eff. July 1, 2022.)