(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.

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(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 discharged by the Chief Medical Examiner without such approval.

(3) If the position of district medical examiner is vacant, the local health officer shall temporarily act as medical examiner in cooperation with the Chief Medical Examiner until the vacancy is filled.

(4) If the positions of district medical examiner and local health officer are both vacant, the district attorney shall temporarily act as medical examiner in cooperation with the Chief Medical Examiner until the vacancy is filled.

(5) Two or more counties, with the approval of the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board and commissioners of each county, may form a district medical examiner’s office instead of an office for each such county.

(6) When a county or district has a population of 200,000 or more persons, the Chief Medical Examiner may, with the approval of the State Medical Examiner Advisory Board, appoint a Deputy State Medical Examiner for that county or district.

(7) The compensation of the Deputy State Medical Examiner shall be paid by the state from funds available for such purpose.

(8) The services of the Deputy State Medical Examiner may be contracted by the Department of State Police. These contracts may be terminated by either party at any time by written notice to the other party to the agreement and, upon termination, the appointment of such Deputy State Medical Examiner is terminated. [1973 c.408 § 7; 1995 c.744 § 11; 2015 c.736 § 50; 2017 c.151 § 9]

[1959 c.629 § 4; 1969 c.314 § 8; repealed by 1973 c.408 § 35]