{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-72.020","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 72.020","heading":"Duty of person, hospital, or institution finding or possessing dead body --","body":"Duties of coroner, law enforcement officer, embalmer, funeral director, or\nambulance service.\n(1) Any person, hospital, or institution, finding or having possession of the body  of any\nperson whose death occurred under any of the circumstances defined in subsections\n(1) through (12) of KRS 72.025, shall immediately notify the coroner, or his deputy,\nand a law enforcement agency, which shall report to the scene within a reasonable\ntime. No person shall remove the body or remove anything from the body until\ndirected to do so by the coroner or his deputy, after the law enforcement agency is\npresent or has failed, within a reasonable period of time, to respond.\n(2) The coroner shall take possession of any objects, medical specimens, or articles\nwhich, in his opinion, may be helpful in establishing the cause of death, and he can\nmake or cause to be made such tests and examinations of said objects as may be\nnecessary or useful in determ ining the cause of death. In the event that a criminal\nprosecution arises, all such objects and articles together with reports of any\nexaminations made upon them, shall be retained by the coroner until their\nproduction in evidence is required by the prosec uting authority, unless otherwise\ndirected by written order of the court in which such prosecution is pending.\n(3) Upon final disposition of each criminal prosecution under this section, the court\nshall by appropriate written order dispose of all objects retained under the\nprovisions of this section.\n(4) If the law enforcement officer at the scene has probable cause to believe that one of\nthe conditions in subsection (1) of this section exists and the coroner refuses to\nrequire a post -mortem examination, the officer shall immediately notify the county\nor Commonwealth attorney who may proceed pursuant to KRS 72.445.\n(5) In all cases listed under KRS 72.025 in which a licensed embalmer, funeral director,\nor ambulance service is notified and is the first per son at the scene of death other\nthan private citizens, he shall notify the coroner and if the death appears to fall\nwithin the categories established in subsections (1) through (12) of KRS 72.025, he\nshall notify a local law enforcement agency.","path":["KRS Chapter 72"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=24279","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:33Z","sha256":"1ec308d7823542a92d13dfc1d327457f89643dba143968e29dfb8fa423706aad","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-72.010","next":"us-ky/krs-72.021"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}