N.Y. County Law § 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 chair 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 their 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 such person 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 chair of the correction medical review board,

the commissioner of corrections and community supervision or the

executive director of the justice center for the protection of people

with special needs, as appropriate, by such person, partnership,

corporation or governmental agency. For the purposes of this

subdivision, in addition to anything else required by law, the copy of

the autopsy report shall include all photographs of the body and

post-mortem x-rays taken by or at the direction of the person performing

the autopsy, and all photographs and post-mortem x-rays reviewed by the

person performing the autopsy in the course of their examination or in

the course of their diagnosis of the cause of death and the means or

manner of death. Such copy of the autopsy report may also include images

of all microscopic slides taken by or at the direction of the person

performing the autopsy and images of all microscopic slides reviewed by

the person performing the autopsy in the course of their examination or

in the course of their diagnosis of the cause of death and the means or

manner of death. If such images of microscopic slides are not included

in the copy of the autopsy report provided pursuant to this subdivision,

the copy of the autopsy report shall indicate that such images of

microscopic slides have been omitted, and, upon request of the chair of

the correction medical review board, the commissioner of corrections and

community supervision or the executive director of the justice center

for the protection of people with special needs, a coroner, coroner's

physician or medical examiner shall promptly provide access to inspect

such microscopic slides or, where practicable, provide images of such

microscopic slides.

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. (a) When required for official purposes of the state department of

health, the state commissioner of health or their 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 their designee, a

coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, shall, within three

business days of their completion, provide to such commissioner or their

designee a copy of all reports and records, including, but not limited

to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports related to the death.

(b) When required for official purposes of a health district as

defined in section two of the public health law, the local health

officer of such district may request copies of all reports and records

related to a death, including, but not limited to, autopsy reports and

toxicology reports when: (i) a death occurs within the local health

district in which the local health official exercises jurisdiction; or

(ii) a death occurs outside the local health district in which the local

health officer exercises jurisdiction, provided that the decedent was a

resident of such local health district when they:

(1) sustained a physical injury or toxicological exposure that was a

direct or contributing cause of death;

(2) received significant medical care or treatment for the disease or

condition leading to death; or

(3) were pronounced dead or the body was found.

(c) Upon receipt of the written request of the local health officer, a

coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, shall:

(i) when such death has occurred within the local health district in

which the requesting local health officer exercises jurisdiction,

provide to such local health officer a copy of all reports and records,

including, but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports

related to the death within three days of their completion; or

(ii) when such death has occurred outside of the local health district

in which the requesting local health officer exercises jurisdiction,

provide to such local health officer a copy of all reports and records,

including but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports

related to the death within the earlier of (1) seven days of their

completion; or (2) seven days of receiving such written request; and

(iii) maintain such documents as part of the official case record.

(d) The requesting local health officer shall maintain a log of all

requests made outside of their local health district and shall, within

three business days of making the request, provide a copy of the written

request to the local health officer with jurisdiction over the local

health district from which the records were requested.

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.