(a)

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 38-7-107

  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) When a person‘s death occurs under any of the circumstances set out in this part, any of the following persons may request the district attorney general in the district where the body is buried or interred to petition the appropriate circuit or criminal court judge in the district where a body is buried or interred to order a body disinterred:

(A) A state or county medical examiner;
(B) The district attorney general of the district in which it is claimed the death occurred;
(C) The district attorney general of the district in which an act causing the death occurred; or
(D) The district attorney general of the district in which the body is buried or interred, in the general’s own discretion.
(2) The grounds for disinterment under this subsection (a) are:

(A) The person’s death occurred under one (1) of the circumstances set out in this part;
(B) The person was buried or interred before an autopsy could be performed; or
(C) The disinterment will substantially assist in the collection of evidence for a pending criminal investigation, regardless of whether an autopsy was previously performed, or DNA, scientific, or forensic evidence was collected.
(3) The petition shall specify whether the district attorney general is requesting disinterment for the performance of an autopsy, to collect scientific or forensic evidence, to collect a DNA specimen from the deceased, or any combination of the three (3).
(4) The petition shall set forth the district attorney general’s belief that the death in question is subject to post-mortem examination or autopsy as provided by this part and the reasons that support the district attorney general’s belief as to the circumstances of the death. When known or reasonably ascertainable, a copy of the petition shall be served upon the next of kin of the deceased.
(5) The petition may be presented during a term of court or in vacation and in:

(A) The county in which it is claimed that the death occurred;
(B) The county in which the act causing the death occurred; or
(C) Any other county of a judicial district in which circumstances leading to the death were likely to have occurred.
(6) The judge hearing a petition under this subsection (a) shall have the power and authority to rule upon the petition in any county in which the judge has jurisdiction.
(b) Upon the presentation of the petition to the judge, the judge shall be authorized to consider the petition and in the exercise of sound judicial discretion, either make or deny an order authorizing the disinterment and an autopsy to be performed upon the body of the deceased. The cost of disinterment and autopsy shall be paid by the state as provided in § 38-1-104.
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