Oregon · statute · Or. Rev. Stat. ch. 146 · 41 active provisions
As used in ORS 146.003 to 146.189 and 146.710 to 146.992, unless the context requires otherwise: (1) “Approved laboratory” means a laboratory approved by the Chief Medical Examiner as competent to perform the blood sample analysis required by ORS 146.113 (2). (2) “Assistant district medical examiner” means a physician…
(1) There is hereby established the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board. (2) The board shall make policies for the administration of ORS 146.003 to 146.189 and the Department of State Police shall adopt rules to effectuate the policies. (3) The board shall recommend the name or names of pathologists to the Superinten…
(1) There is hereby established the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board. (2) The board shall make policies for the administration of ORS 146.003 to 146.189 and the Department of State Police shall adopt rules to effectuate the policies. (3) The board shall recommend the name or names of pathologists to the Superinten…
In addition to the duties set forth in ORS 146.015 the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board shall: (1) Recommend to the Oregon Department of Administrative Services the qualifications and compensation for the positions of Chief Medical Examiner and Deputy State Medical Examiner. (2) Recommend to the county courts the…
(1) There is established within the Department of State Police the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the purpose of directing and supporting the state death investigation program. (2) The Chief Medical Examiner shall manage all aspects of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s program. (3) Subject to the Sta…
(1) After consultation with the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board, the Chief Medical Examiner shall appoint each Deputy State Medical Examiner. (2) The Chief Medical Examiner shall: (a) Appoint and discharge each district medical examiner as provided by ORS 146.065 (2). (b) Designate those pathologists authorized t…
(1) The Chief Medical Examiner shall assist and advise district medical examiners in the performance of their duties. (2) The Chief Medical Examiner shall perform autopsies, if in the judgment of the Chief Medical Examiner such autopsy is necessary in any death requiring investigation, when requested by a medical exami…
(1) In each county there shall be a medical examiner for the purpose of investigating and certifying the cause and manner of deaths requiring investigation. (2) Each district medical examiner shall be appointed by the Chief Medical Examiner with approval of the appropriate board or boards of commissioners and may be di…
(1) The district medical examiner shall serve as the administrator of the district medical examiner’s office. Subject to applicable provisions of a county personnel policy or civil service law, the district medical examiner may employ such other personnel as the district medical examiner deems necessary to operate the…
(1) Each district medical examiner may appoint one or more assistant district medical examiners. (2) The qualifications of an assistant district medical examiner shall be prescribed by the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board. (3) When delegated by the district medical examiner, an assistant district medical examiner…
(1) The district medical examiner shall appoint, subject to the approval of the district attorney and applicable civil service regulations, qualified medical-legal death investigators, including the sheriff or a deputy sheriff and a member of the Oregon State Police for each county. Other peace officers may also be app…
A district medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator, assistant district medical examiner or designated pathologist is deemed to be an officer or employee of a public body for purposes of ORS 30.260 to 30.300 while acting as a district medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator, assistant district medi…
(1) The medical examiner shall investigate and certify the cause and manner of all human deaths: (a) Apparently homicidal, suicidal or occurring under suspicious or unknown circumstances; (b) Resulting from the unlawful use of controlled substances or the use or abuse of chemicals or toxic agents; (c) Occurring while i…
(1) The district medical examiner and the district attorney for the county where death occurs, as provided by ORS 146.100 (2), shall be responsible for the investigation of all deaths requiring investigation. (2) The medical examiner shall certify the manner and the cause of all deaths which the medical examiner is req…
(1) Death investigations shall be under the direction of the district medical examiner and the district attorney for the county where the death occurs. (2) For purposes of ORS 146.003 to 146.189, if the county where death occurs is unknown, the death shall be deemed to have occurred in the county where the body is foun…
(1) As used in this section: (a) “Cause of death” has the meaning given that term in ORS 146.003. (b) “Local mental health authority” has the meaning given that term in ORS 430.630. (c) “Manner of death” has the meaning given that term in ORS 146.003. (d) “Opioid” means a natural, synthetic or semisynthetic chemical th…
(1) In a death requiring an investigation, no person shall move a human body or body suspected of being human, or remove any of the effects of the deceased or instruments or weapons related to the death without the permission of a medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator or the district attorney. (2) No perso…
(1) A medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator or district attorney may enter any room, dwelling, building or other place in which the medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator or district attorney has reasonable cause to believe that a body or evidence of the circumstances of death requiring investi…
(1) Upon identifying the body, the medical examiner shall immediately attempt to locate the next of kin or responsible friends to obtain the designation of a funeral home to which the deceased is to be taken. (2) If unable to promptly obtain a designation of funeral home from the next of kin or responsible friends, the…
(1) A medical examiner or district attorney may, in any death requiring investigation, order samples of blood or urine taken for laboratory analysis. (2) When a death requiring an investigation as a result of a motor vehicle accident occurs within five hours after the accident and the deceased is over 13 years of age,…
(1) A medical examiner or district attorney may order an autopsy performed in any death requiring investigation. This authorization for an autopsy shall permit the pathologist to remove and retain body tissues or organs from the deceased for the purpose of the legal or medical determination of the manner or cause of de…
(1) No person shall bury or otherwise dispose of the body of a person whose death required investigation, without having first obtained a burial, cremation or reduction permit, or a report of death completed and signed by a medical examiner. (2) When a medical examiner investigates the death of a person whose body is n…
(1) The medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator, district attorney or sheriff may temporarily retain possession of any property found on the body or in the possession of the deceased that in the opinion of the medical examiner, medical-legal death investigator, district attorney or sheriff may be useful in e…
(1) The district attorney for the county where the death occurs may order an inquest to obtain a jury finding of the cause and manner of death in any case requiring investigation. (2) For the purpose of conducting an inquest, the district attorney shall have the powers of a judicial officer as described by ORS 1.240 an…
(1) The district attorney shall order the inquest to be held at a specified time and place and as provided in ORS 10.810 and 10.820 shall summon a jury of inquest to inquire into the cause and manner of death. (2) Upon receipt of a copy of the order of inquest, the sheriff shall select, as provided by law, not less tha…