Orange County NC Website
67 <br />S 130A -383. Medical examiner jurisdiction. <br />(a) Upon the death of any person resulting from violence, poisoning, <br />accident, suicide or homicide; occurring suddenly when the deceased <br />had been in apparent good health or when unattended by a physician; <br />occurring in a jail, prison, correctional institution or in police <br />custody; occurring pursuant to Article 19 of Chapter 15 of the General <br />Statutes; or occurring under any suspicious, unusual or unnatural <br />circumstance, the medical examiner of the county in which the body of <br />the deceased is found shall be notified by a physician in attendance, <br />hospital employee, law- enforcement officer, funeral home employee, <br />emergency medical technician, relative or by any other person having <br />suspicion of such a death. No person shall disturb the body at the <br />scene of such a death until authorized by the medical examiner unless <br />in the unavailability of the medical examiner it is determined by the <br />appropriate law enforcement agency that the presence of the body at <br />the scene would risk the integrity of the body or provide a hazard to <br />the safety of others. For the limited purposes of this Part, expres- <br />sion of opinion that death has occurred may be made by a nurse, an <br />emergency medical technician or any other competent person in the <br />absence of a physician. C <br />(b) The discovery of anatomical material suspected of being part of <br />a human body shall be reported to the medical examiner of the county <br />in which the material is found. <br />(e) Capon completion of the investigation and in accordance with the <br />rules of the Commission, the medical examiner shall release the body <br />to the next of kin or other interested person who will assume respon- <br />sibility for final disposition. <br />2 <br />