2023 New York Laws › CNT - County › Article 17-A - Coroner, Coroner's Physician and Medical Examiner › 677 - Records; Reports.

§ 677. Records; reports. 1. The writing made by the coroner, or by the
coroner  and  coroner's  physician,  or  by the medical examiner, at the
place where he takes charge of the body, shall be filed promptly in  the
office  of  the  coroner or medical examiner. The testimony of witnesses
examined before him and the report of any examination made  or  directed
by  him  shall  be  made  in writing or reduced to writing and thereupon
filed in such office.
2. The report of any autopsy or other examination  shall  state  every
fact  and circumstance tending to show the condition of the body and the
cause and means or manner of death. The person  performing  an  autopsy,
for  the purpose of determining the cause of death or means or manner of
death, shall enter upon the  record  the  pathological  appearances  and
findings,  embodying  such  information  as  may  be  prescribed  by the
commissioner of health, and append thereto the diagnosis of the cause of
death and of the means or manner of death. Methods and forms  prescribed
by  the  commissioner of health for obtaining and preserving records and
statistics of autopsies conducted within the state shall be employed.  A
detailed description of the findings, written during the progress of the
autopsy,  and  the conclusions drawn therefrom shall, when completed, be
filed in the office of the coroner or medical examiner.
3. (a) The  coroner  or  coroners  of  each  county,  or  the  medical
examiner,  shall  keep  full  and  complete  records,  properly indexed,
stating the name, if known, of every person whose death is investigated,
the place where the body was found, the date of death, if known, and  if
not   known,   the  date  or  approximate  date  as  determined  by  the
investigation, to which there shall be attached the original  report  of
the  coroner,  or coroner and coroner's physician or physician employed,
or medical examiner, and the detailed findings of the autopsy,  if  any.
Such  records  shall be kept in the office of the county clerk except in
those counties having a full-time coroner or medical examiner, in  which
case  such records shall be kept in the office of the coroner or medical
examiner.
(b) Such records shall be open to inspection by the district  attorney
of  the  county. Upon application of the personal representative, spouse
or next of kin of the deceased to the coroner or the medical examiner, a
copy of the autopsy report, as described  in  subdivision  two  of  this
section shall be furnished to such applicant. Upon proper application of
any  person  who  is or may be affected in a civil or criminal action by
the contents of the record of any investigation, or upon application  of
any  person  having a substantial interest therein, an order may be made
by a court of record, or by a justice of the  supreme  court,  that  the
record  of  that  investigation be made available for his inspection, or
that a transcript thereof be furnished to him, or both.
4. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly
deliver to the district attorney copies of all records pertaining to any
death whenever, in his  opinion,  or  in  the  judgment  of  the  person
performing  the  autopsy,  there  is  any  indication  that  a crime was
committed.
5. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly
report to the commissioner of motor  vehicles,  in  a  form  and  manner
specified by the commissioner, the results of all quantitative tests for
alcohol,  and  for  any  trace  of a controlled substance, as defined in
section three thousand three hundred six of the public health law,  that
the  coroner,  coroner's  physician  or  medical examiner has reasonable
cause to believe is present, performed upon bodies of victims  of  motor
vehicle  accidents  pursuant to the requirements of subdivision three of
section six hundred seventy-four of this chapter.
6. Notwithstanding section six hundred seventy of this article or  any
other  provision  of  law,  the  coroner, coroner's physician or medical
examiner shall promptly provide the chairman of the  correction  medical
review   board   and  the  commissioner  of  corrections  and  community
supervision  with  copies of any autopsy report, toxicological report or
any report of any examination or inquiry prepared with  respect  to  any
death occurring to an incarcerated individual of a correctional facility
as  defined  by subdivision three of section forty of the correction law
within his or her county;  and  shall  promptly  provide  the  executive
director of the justice center for the protection of people with special
needs with copies of any autopsy report, toxicology report or any report
of  any examination or inquiry prepared with respect to the death of any
service recipient occurring while he  or  she  was  a  resident  in  any
facility  operated,  licensed  or  certified  by  any  agency within the
department  of  mental  hygiene,  the  office  of  children  and  family
services, the department of health or the state education department. If
the  toxicological  report  is  prepared  pursuant  to  any agreement or
contract with  any  person,  partnership,  corporation  or  governmental
agency  with  the  coroner  or  medical  examiner,  such report shall be
promptly provided to the  chairman  of  the  correction  medical  review
board,  the commissioner of corrections and community supervision or the
executive director of the justice center for people with special  needs,
as appropriate, by such person, partnership, corporation or governmental
agency.
7.  (a) Upon the written request of the commissioner of mental health,
the  commissioner  of  the  office  for   persons   with   developmental
disabilities,  the  director  of  the  mental hygiene legal service, the
executive director of the justice center for the  protection  of  people
with  special  needs  or  the  director of a mental hygiene facility, as
defined in  subdivision  two  of  section  five  hundred  fifty  of  the
executive  law,  at  which  the  deceased was a patient or resident, the
coroner, coroner's physician or  medical  examiner  shall  provide  such
person  with  a  copy  of  all  reports  and records, including, but not
limited to, autopsy reports and toxicological  reports  related  to  the
deceased  prepared by a person, partnership, corporation or governmental
agency pursuant to any agreement or contract with the coroner or medical
examiner with respect to the death of a patient  or  resident  receiving
services at such a mental hygiene facility.
(b)  Upon the written request of the commissioner of mental health, or
commissioner  of  developmental  disabilities,  or  a  director   of   a
departmental  facility  as defined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
law, or the executive director of the justice center for the  protection
of  people  with  special  needs,  the  coroner,  coroner's physician or
medical examiner shall transmit to the commissioner, or  such  director,
or  any  member  of  the  justice  center medical review board, original
autopsy slides, tissue materials and specimens taken from the body of  a
deceased  patient  or  resident  as  defined  in  paragraph  (a) of this
section. Such original materials may be used and tested by  such  office
of  the  department  of  mental  hygiene,  or such director, and justice
center medical review board pursuant to its authority under section five
hundred fifty-six of the  executive  law.  Such  slides,  materials  and
specimens  may  be retained for a reasonable time, and shall be returned
to the office of the coroner  or  medical  examiner  in  good  condition
allowing for reasonable use for study and testing purposes.
8.   The  coroner,  coroner's  physician  or  medical  examiner  shall
promptly, but in no event later than sixty days from the date of  death,
absent  extraordinary  circumstances, provide the office of children and
family services with copies of any autopsy report, toxicological  report

or any report of any examination or inquiry prepared with respect to any
death  occurring  to  a  child  whose  care  and  custody or custody and
guardianship has been transferred to an authorized agency, a  child  for
whom  child  protective  services has an open case, a child for whom the
local department of social services  has  an  open  preventive  services
case,  or  a  child  reported to the statewide central register of child
abuse and maltreatment. If the toxicological report is prepared pursuant
to any agreement or contract with any person,  partnership,  corporation
or governmental agency with the coroner or medical examiner, such report
shall  be  promptly, but in no event later than sixty days from the date
of death, absent extraordinary circumstances, provided to the office  of
children and family services by such person, partnership, corporation or
governmental  agency.  Where  the death involves a child reported to the
statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment, the  reports
referred  to in this subdivision shall also be promptly, but in no event
later than sixty days from  the  date  of  death,  absent  extraordinary
circumstances,   provided   to   the   local  child  protective  service
investigating the report pursuant to section four hundred twenty-four of
the social services law.
9. When required for official purposes  of  the  state  department  of
health,  the  state  commissioner  of  health or his or her designee may
request copies of all reports and records related to a death, including,
but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports. Upon receipt
of the written request of the state commissioner of health or his or her
designee, a coroner, coroner's physician  or  medical  examiner,  shall,
within  three  business  days  of  their  completion,  provide  to  such
commissioner or his or her designee a copy of all reports  and  records,
including,  but  not  limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports
related to the death.
10. (a) The coroner, coroner's physician  or  medical  examiner  shall
report  to the division of veterans' services, in a form, and time frame
developed by the department of health in a manner that is protective  of
privacy  and  contains  aggregate,  rather  than  individual data to the
extent practicable, any death which appears to be caused by suicide by a
person who, to the knowledge of  the  coroner,  coroner's  physician  or
medical examiner, is a veteran.
(b)  For  the purposes of this subdivision, veteran means a person who
served in the United States army, navy, air force, space  force,  marine
corps, coast guard, and/or reserves thereof, and/or in the army national
guard, air national guard, New York guard and/or New York naval militia,
and/or  who served as a member of the commissioned corps of the national
oceanic and atmospheric  administration  or  the  United  States  public
health service regardless of discharge status.