What Is A Coroner?

The Franklin County Coroner’s Office is an independent agency that investigates and certifies the cause and manner of death of persons who die within the county under circumstances that are sudden, unexpected, unnatural, suspicious or violent as designated in the Ohio Revised Code 313.12.

The coroner is a licensed physician who has been elected to serve a 4-year term. The elected coroner is responsible for the unbiased, independent formal report and verdict on all deaths that fall under the coroner’s jurisdiction.

Only those deaths defined in the “coroner’s statute”, Ohio Revised Code 313.12, are mandated to be investigated by the coroner. The coroner will obtain information about the decedent’s health and recent activities to gain insight into the circumstances surrounding the death to assist in assigning a cause of death. In some cases, an autopsy may be necessary to evaluate and determine the cause and manner of death. This procedure is generally performed by a pathologist. The cause of death is the disease or injury responsible for the person’s death. The manner of death describes the circumstances surrounding the death, such as suicide, homicide, accident, natural, or undetermined. In Ohio, the coroner is the only physician who can certify deaths that are not due to natural disease.

The coroner has jurisdiction over the body and all items in the immediate vicinity of the death scene. The coroner is responsible for proper identification of the deceased, to ensure that next of kin are notified in a proper and timely fashion, for the proper release of personal effects back to families, and for the proper release of information to the public. The coroner helps to identify new or ongoing threats to public safety.

Ohio Revised Code 313.12

Notice to coroner of violent, suspicious, unusual or sudden death.

(A) When any person dies as a result of criminal or other violent means, by casualty, by suicide, or in any suspicious or unusual manner, when any person, including a child under two years of age, dies suddenly when in apparent good health, or when any person with a developmental disability dies regardless of the circumstances, the physician called in attendance, or any member of an ambulance service, emergency squad, or law enforcement agency who obtains knowledge thereof arising from the person’s duties, shall immediately notify the office of the coroner of the known facts concerning the time, place, manner, and circumstances of the death, and any other information that is required pursuant to sections 313.01 to 313.22 of the Revised Code. In such cases, if a request is made for cremation, the funeral director called in attendance shall immediately notify the coroner.

(B) As used in this section, “developmental disability” has the same meaning as in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 158, §1, eff. 10/12/2016.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

View Ohio Revised Code 313: Coroner