FAQ's

The Coroner trains and supervises death investigators who are their eyes and ears at the scene, gathering information and then consulting with the Coroner who then makes determinations on jurisdiction, disposition, and further investigation or postmortem examination necessary to determine cause and manner of death

No, in fact, most deaths in the county are natural deaths. The Coroner only needs to be notified of suspicious or non-natural deaths, however we do get called about many deaths that are natural. Initial information is gathered by the Triage Coordinator to see whether and what level of investigation is needed to obtain the information we need to determine if we accept jurisdiction of a case. Sometimes this involves just further information gathering by phone, at other times it may involve sending an investigator to the scene.

We arrange for the family’s funeral home of choice (or the on-call funeral home if none has been chosen by the time the body needs to be transported) takes the body to our partner facility at Southern Minnesota Regional Medical Examiner’s Office (Rochester) for a postmortem exam, typically performed then next business day. They then pick up the body again and return it to the funeral home for preparation and services.

This typically takes about 16 weeks (4 months) due to all the toxicology, histology, microscopy and other studies involved in the full postmortem examination. It is this wait-time that delays death certificate completion and is often a source of frustration for families, funeral homes, and Coroner’s Office staff alike.

Information is given to the family at the death scene or upon notification of Next of Kin. However, most families are in shock and much of the information doesn’t get processed or comprehended well. This is why our investigators give them a contact card to call us for questions or updates. Much of our job is talking to families, answering questions, educating them, and helping them navigate the business of death while grieving.