GA Code § 45-16-21 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 45 - Public Officers and Employees|Chapter 16 - Coroners|Article 2 - Death Investigations|§ 45-16-21. Definitions

 As used in this article, the term:    "Autopsy" means the dissection of a dead body and the examination of bone, tissue, organs, and foreign objects for the purpose of determining the cause of death and circumstances surrounding the same, which procedure shall include as a minimum an external examination and the examination of the brain, neck and thoracic organs, and abdominal organs.  (1.1) "Chief medical examiner" means the chief medical examiner appointed pursuant to Code Section 35-3-153.    "County medical examiner" means that office established in lieu of the office of coroner pursuant to Code Section 45-16-80 or any amendment to the Constitution continued pursuant to the authority of Article XI, Section I, Paragraph IV of the Constitution.   "Division" means the Division of Forensic Sciences of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.   "External examination" means an external examination of a dead body but shall not include dissection of the body for any purpose except dissection which is necessary for and limited to procurement of blood or body fluids for toxicological or other analysis.   "Forensic consultant" means a person meeting the requirements and authorized to perform the duties specified in subsection (c) of Code Section 45-16-23.   "Inquest" means an official judicial inquiry before a coroner and coroner's jury for the purpose of determining the cause of death.   "Limited dissection" means the incision into or dissection of a dead body for diagnosis or evidence collection and the term includes without being limited to an external examination but does not include an individual examination of the:   Brain;   Neck organs;   Thoracic organs; and   Abdominal organs  but may include an examination of any but not all of the categories of organs specified in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of this paragraph.      "Local medical examiner" means a person meeting the requirements and authorized to perform the duties specified in subsection (b) of Code Section 45-16-23.   "Medical examiner" means:   The chief medical examiner;   A regional medical examiner;   A county medical examiner;   A local medical examiner; or   Any person who is employed by the state and appointed as a medical examiner as of December 1, 1989, who continues to perform the duties and exercise the powers of a medical examiner under this article when such performance and exercise are within the scope of such employment.     "Medical examiner's inquiry" means an inquiry made by a medical examiner into the circumstances surrounding a death which is required to be reported under the provisions of Code Section 45-16-24, which inquiry may include, but is not required to include, a scene investigation, an external examination, a limited dissection, an autopsy, or any combination thereof.   "Medical examiner's investigator" means a person meeting the requirements and authorized to perform the duties specified in subsection (d) of Code Section 45-16-23.   "Peace officer in charge" means any peace officer of the Georgia State Patrol or agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, sheriff or sheriff's deputy, peace officer assigned to the coroner's office, county policeman, city policeman, or city detective who may be in charge of the investigation of any case involving a death covered by Code Sections 45-16-27 and 45-16-32.   "Regional medical examiner" means a medical examiner who is employed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and who is a pathologist appointed by the chief medical examiner pursuant to Code Section 35-3-153.   "Scene investigation" means an examination by the medical examiner or medical examiner's investigator of the area surrounding a dead body or area where a death or agonal event occurred.   "Unattended death," "died unattended," or "died unattended by a physician" means a death where a person dies of apparently natural causes and has no physician who can certify the death as being due to natural causes. If the suspected cause of death directly involves any trauma or complication of such trauma, the death must be reported to the coroner or county medical examiner. An unattended death also occurs when a person is admitted in an unresponsive state to a hospital and dies within 24 hours of admission.    (Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 602, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 1009, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1631, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 8, § 45; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1735, § 3; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 45; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1436, § 3; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1421, § 4; Ga. L. 1998, p. 128, § 45; Ga. L. 2003, p. 498, § 1.)   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 1997, p. 1421, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Georgia Forensic Sciences Act of 1997.'"   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Duties of coroner judicial in nature.    - A coroner is not within the executive branch of government, because the primary function of the coroner is to conduct an inquest which is in the nature of a judicial proceeding. Therefor, a person serving as both justice of the peace and coroner is not disqualified per se under Ga. Const. 1976, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. IV (see now Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. II, Para. III) from issuing a search warrant in the coroner's capacity as justice of the peace. Sanders v. State, 151 Ga. App. 590, 260 S.E.2d 504 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1047, 100 S. Ct. 737, 62 L. Ed. 2d 734 (1980).    Cited in National Life & Accident Ins. Co. v. Fender, 146 Ga. App. 545, 247 S.E.2d 195 (1978); Hendon v. Cochran, 177 Ga. App. 118, 338 S.E.2d 465 (1985); Williams v. State, 258 Ga. 305, 369 S.E.2d 232 (1988).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    A medical examiner comes within the scope of the definition of a public officer.  1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-201.    Coroner may not be designated to serve as  a medical examiner; if a person serving as a coroner accepts appointment as a medical examiner, that person will thereby vacate the office of coroner. 1952-53 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 295.   Qualifications of physicians appointed.   - Physicians may be appointed as medical examiners, notwithstanding the fact that the physicians hold licenses which do not authorize the general practice of medicine. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-90.   Crime laboratory personnel.   - While there is no need for the Commissioner of Human Resources to participate in the designation of crime laboratory personnel as medical examiners, the appointment of medical examiners who are not a part of the immediate staff of the Division of Forensic Sciences would require joint action by the division director and the Commissioner of Human Resources. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-56.   It is not necessary for qualified crime laboratory personnel who are not medical doctors to receive an appointment to serve as medical examiners from both the director of the Division of Forensic Sciences, and the Commissioner of Human Resources since the director is authorized to make this designation independently. 1984 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 84-56.   RESEARCH REFERENCES   Am. Jur. 2d.   - 18 Am. Jur. 2d, Coroners or Medical Examiners, § 1 et seq. 22A Am. Jur. 2d, Dead Bodies, § 41 et seq.   C.J.S.   - 18 C.J.S., Coroners, § 1 et seq. 25A C.J.S., Dead Bodies, §§ 2, 3, 4.