22a-231. Notification of death to coroner or deputy, when; jurisdiction regarding investigation. When any person dies, or human body is found dead in the state, and the death is suspected to have been the result of violence, caused by unlawful means or by suicide, or by casualty, or suddenly when the decedent was in apparent health, or when decedent was not regularly attended by a licensed physician, or in any suspicious or unusual manner, or when in police custody, or when in a jail or correctional institution, or in any circumstances specified under K.S.A. 22a-242, and amendments thereto, or when the determination of the cause of a death is held to be in the public interest, the coroner or deputy coroner of the county in which the death occurred, if known, or if not known, the coroner or deputy coroner of the county in which such dead body was found, shall be notified by the physician in attendance, by any law enforcement officer, by the embalmer, by any person who is or may in the future be required to notify the coroner or by any other person. The coroner in the county of the cause of death shall decide if an investigation shall take place. If an investigation is authorized by the coroner of the county of cause of death, the coroner in the county of death shall undertake such investigation, with costs to be accounted to and reimbursed by the county of the cause of death. Investigation may include, but is not limited to, obtaining medical and law enforcement background information, examination of the scene of the cause of death, inquest, autopsy, and other duties required of the coroner. If the coroner of the county of the cause of death requests an investigation, the coroner of the county of death shall be responsible for the investigation and the certification of death.

History: L. 1963, ch. 166, § 7; L. 1965, ch. 164, § 12; L. 1969, ch. 143, § 5; L. 1988, ch. 103, § 1; L. 1992, ch. 312, § 35; L. 1993, ch. 214, § 6; L. 2000, ch. 54, § 2; July 1.