{"data":{"id":"us-ms/miss.-code-ann.-41-61-53","jurisdiction":"us-ms","citation":"Miss. Code Ann. § 41-61-53","heading":"Miss. Code Ann. § 41-61-53","body":"For the purposes of Sections 41-61-51 through 41-61-79 , the following definitions shall apply:\n\n(a) “ Certification of death ” means signing the death certificate.\n\n(b) “ Coroner ” means the elected county official provided for in Sections 19-21-101 through 19-21-107 .\n\n(c) “ County medical examiner investigator ” means a nonphysician coroner or deputy coroner trained to investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest.\n\n(d) “ County medical examiner ” means a licensed physician who is a coroner or deputy coroner trained to investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest.\n\n(e) “ Death affecting the public interest ” means any death of a human being where the circumstances are sudden, unexpected, violent, suspicious or unattended.\n\n(f) “ Medical examiner ” means the medical examiner system which is composed of the State Medical Examiner, county medical examiners and county medical examiner investigators collectively, and is a jurisdictional identifier, not a title, unless the context clearly requires otherwise.\n\n(g) “ Medical examiner investigator ” means a nonphysician appointed, trained and supervised by the State Medical Examiner to investigate and assist with the certification of deaths affecting the public interest.\n\n(h) “ Pronouncement of death ” means the statement of opinion that life has ceased for an individual.\n\n(i) “ State Medical Examiner ” means the person appointed by the Commissioner of Public Safety pursuant to Section 41-61-55 to investigate and certify deaths that affect the public interest.\n\n(j) “ Autopsy ” means a postmortem examination.\n\n(k) “ Postmortem examination ” means an examination of a dead human body that may include the least invasive to most invasive methods based on the expertise and judgment of the pathologist handling the case.","path":["MS Code","Title 41"],"source_url":"https://legislature.ms.gov/","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:17Z","sha256":"f9566e67fa9a7969c87eb9f21cd81a5431888ef8308c018f401c157d7e95cf4e","source_id":"us-ms","stale":false,"prev":"us-ms/miss.-code-ann.-41-61-51","next":"us-ms/miss.-code-ann.-41-61-55"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}