PRINTER'S NO. 3388
No. 2573 Session of 1980
INTRODUCED BY KNEPPER, ITKIN, FISHER, COWELL, CHESS, MRKONIC,
AUSTIN, MICHLOVIC, DAWIDA, DUFFY, TADDONIO, POTT, PISTELLA,
MURPHY, KNIGHT, RASCO AND McVERRY, MAY 20, 1980
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON URBAN AFFAIRS, MAY 20, 1980
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of July 28, 1953 (P.L.723, No.230), entitled,
2 as amended, "An act relating to counties of the second class
3 and second class A; amending, revising, consolidating and
4 changing the laws relating thereto," abolishing the office of
5 elected coroner and creating the position of an appointed
6 medical examiner.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 401, act of July 28,
10 1953 (P.L.723, No.230), known as the "Second Class County Code,"
11 amended November 27, 1968 (P.L.1114, No.346), is amended to
12 read:
13 Section 401. Enumeration of Elected Officers.--(a) In the
14 county there shall be the following officers elected by the
15 qualified electors of the county:
16 (1) three county commissioners;
17 (2) one controller;
18 (3) one treasurer;
19 [(4) one coroner;]
1 (5) one recorder of deeds;
2 (6) one prothonotary;
3 (7) one clerk of the court of quarter sessions and of the
4 court of oyer and terminer;
5 (8) one register of wills;
6 (9) one sheriff;
7 (10) one district attorney;
8 (11) two jury commissioners.
9 * * *
10 Section 2. Sections 420 and 431 of the act are amended to
11 read:
12 Section 420. Official Bonds; Requirements.--Each of the
13 following officers, before entering upon his official duties,
14 whether he is elected, appointed or appointed to fill a vacancy,
15 shall give and acknowledge a bond to the county:
16 (1) Each county commissioner;
17 (2) The chief clerk of the county commissioners;
18 (3) The controller;
19 (4) The county treasurer;
20 (5) The prothonotary;
21 (6) The sheriff;
22 (7) The [coroner] medical examiner;
23 (8) The clerk of the court of quarter sessions and oyer and
24 terminer;
25 (9) The clerk of the orphans' court;
26 (10) The recorder of deeds; and
27 (11) The probation and parole officers required by order of
28 court to give bond to the county.
29 Every such official bond shall be joint and several, with one
30 or more corporate sureties which shall be surety companies
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1 authorized to do business in this Commonwealth and duly licensed
2 by the Insurance Commissioner of the Commonwealth.
3 Section 431. Amount of Official Bonds.--The amount of the
4 bond to be given by county officers shall be as follows:
5 Of the clerk of the courts of oyer and terminer and general
6 jail delivery and courts of quarter sessions of the peace, ten
7 thousand dollars.
8 Of the county commissioners, ten thousand dollars each.
9 Of the county controller, fifty thousand dollars.
10 Of the [coroner] medical examiner, fifteen thousand dollars.
11 Of the register of wills, thirty thousand dollars.
12 Of the prothonotary, forty thousand dollars.
13 Of the recorder of deeds, twenty thousand dollars.
14 Of the sheriff, sixty thousand dollars.
15 Of the county treasurer, two hundred thousand dollars.
16 Section 3. Subsection (a) of section 450 of the act amended
17 November 27, 1968 (P.L.1114, No.346), is amended to read:
18 Section 450. Removal of County Officers and Appointees.--(a)
19 The county commissioners, the sheriffs, [coroners] medical
20 examiners, prothonotaries, registers of wills, recorders of
21 deeds, treasurers, controllers, clerks of the courts, district
22 attorneys, and any other officers of the county, whether
23 elected, appointed or duly appointed to fill a vacancy, shall be
24 removable from office only by impeachment, or by the Governor,
25 for reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the
26 advice of two-thirds of the Senate, or upon conviction of
27 misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime, in accordance
28 with the Constitution of this Commonwealth, but their title to
29 office may be tried by proceedings of quo warranto as provided
30 by law.
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1 * * *
2 Section 4. Article XII, subdivision (b) and section 1231 of
3 the act, section 1231 amended July 16, 1975 (P.L.70, No.41), are
4 amended to read:
5 Article XII
6 Sheriff and [Coroner] Medical Examiner
7 * * *
8 (b) [Coroner] Medical Examiner
9 Section 1231. Deputies.--The [coroner] medical examiner
10 shall appoint a chief deputy and may appoint one or more
11 deputies to act in his place and stead, as he may deem proper
12 and necessary. Such deputy or deputies shall have the same
13 powers as the [coroner] medical examiner.
14 Section 5. Sections 1232, 1233, 1234, 1235, 1236, 1237 1238,
15 1239, 1240, 1241, 1242, 1243, 1244, 1245, 1246 of the act are
16 amended to read:
17 Section 1232. Duties with Respect to County Morgues.--The
18 [coroner] medical examiner of the county shall make general
19 rules and regulations for the government and control of county
20 morgues, and shall appoint suitable persons for such morgues so
21 established to have charge of the same, and who shall be
22 removable at the pleasure of the [coroner] medical examiner. The
23 number of such persons and the salary of each shall be fixed by
24 the salary board.
25 Section 1233. Removal of Bodies to Morgue.--Whenever the
26 body of any deceased person who is unidentified, or which body
27 is unclaimed by proper persons, has been found within the
28 county, it shall be removed to the county morgue. The [coroner]
29 medical examiner shall, if he deems it necessary, cause any such
30 body to be properly embalmed or prepared for preservation for
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1 such length of time as he may think proper. Any such body shall
2 be examined or inspected only by such persons as the [coroner]
3 medical examiner authorizes in writing or who are admitted in
4 his presence. No such body shall be removed from any such morgue
5 except upon the certificate of the [coroner] medical examiner.
6 Section 1234. Ambulance.--In the county, the county
7 commissioners shall furnish and maintain, from the general funds
8 of the county, an ambulance for the removal of bodies of
9 deceased persons to and from the morgue and for the burial of
10 unclaimed bodies. The [coroner] medical examiner may provide
11 rules and regulations for the use and maintenance of the
12 ambulance.
13 Section 1235. Unclaimed Property of Deceased; Sales.--(a)
14 The [coroner] medical examiner shall safely keep in his charge
15 all personal effects and property which appear to have been on
16 or about the person at the time of his death, or being found on
17 any decedent whose body is received at the county morgue, and
18 all such effects and property which are delivered to him
19 according to law. The [coroner] medical examiner shall hold such
20 property for one year, unless sooner claimed by legal
21 representatives of the deceased or otherwise duly and lawfully
22 claimed or disposed of.
23 (b) After one year, the [coroner] medical examiner shall
24 cause such property remaining unclaimed, or so much thereof as
25 remains undisposed of according to law, except moneys and such
26 properties as securities which may not be subject to such a
27 sale, which shall be turned over to the commissioners for proper
28 disposition or use, to be sold at public sale.
29 (c) Notice of any such public sale shall be published in at
30 least one newspaper of general circulation in the county once a
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1 week for three successive weeks. The proceeds of all such sales
2 shall be paid immediately into the county treasury, and the
3 [coroner] medical examiner shall make a written report thereof
4 to the county commissioners, under oath, at the same time. If
5 the body has been buried at the expense of the institution
6 district, the county shall pay the proceeds of sale, or such
7 property as was not subject to sale, as hereinbefore provided,
8 less costs, over to the institution district. The foregoing
9 provisions shall be in lieu of escheat to the Commonwealth.
10 Section 1236. [Coroner's] Medical Examiner's
11 Investigations.--The [coroner] medical examiner having a view of
12 the body shall investigate the facts and circumstances
13 concerning deaths which appear to have happened within the
14 county, regardless where the cause thereof may have occurred,
15 for the purpose of determining whether or not an inquest thereof
16 should be had, in the following cases: (1) Any sudden, as
17 hereafter defined, violent or suspicious death, (2) any death
18 wherein no cause of death is properly certified by a person duly
19 authorized thereof, (3) any death resulting from a mine
20 accident, as directed by law, (4) deaths resulting from
21 drownings, cave-ins and subsidences, (5) any stillbirth, or the
22 death of any baby dying within twenty-four hours after its
23 birth, and, in addition thereto, (6) the death of any
24 prematurely born infant, wherein the cause of death is not
25 properly certified by a person duly authorized thereto.
26 The purpose of the investigation shall be to determine
27 whether or not there is any reason sufficient to the [coroner]
28 medical examiner to believe that any such death may have
29 resulted from the criminal acts or criminal neglect of persons
30 other than the deceased, rather than from natural causes or by
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1 suicide.
2 Section 1237. Inquest; Autopsy; [Coroner's] Medical
3 Examiner's Duties; Records.--If, upon the investigation by the
4 [coroner] medical examiner, he shall not be satisfied thereby
5 that the death resulted from natural causes or by suicide, he
6 shall proceed to conduct an inquest upon a view of the body, as
7 provided by law. In the conduct of the inquest, the [coroner]
8 medical examiner may require such an autopsy as may be
9 necessary, in accordance with law. At the inquest, the
10 [coroner's] medical examiner's duty shall be to ascertain the
11 cause of death and whether any person other than the deceased
12 was criminally responsible therefor by act or neglect, and if
13 so, the identity of the person, and any further evidence and
14 witnesses regarding the crime. The proceedings at the inquest
15 shall be recorded, at the expense of the county, in a manner to
16 be provided by the county commissioners, and any salary that may
17 be required for this purpose shall be fixed by the salary board.
18 Section 1238. Sudden Deaths Defined.--The [coroner] medical
19 examiner shall regard any death as sudden if it occurs without
20 prior medical attendance by a person who may lawfully execute a
21 certificate of death in this Commonwealth, or if, within twenty-
22 four hours of death, the decedent was discharged from such
23 medical attendance or a change of such medical attendance had
24 occurred, or if any such medical attendance began within twenty-
25 four hours of death and the medical attendant refuses or is
26 unable to certify the cause of death. Medical attendance
27 includes hospitalization.
28 The provisions of this section shall not be construed to
29 affect the [coroner's] medical examiner's discretion as to
30 whether or not any death was suspicious, nor shall they be
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1 construed to authorize a [coroner] medical examiner to
2 investigate a sudden death any further than necessary to
3 convince him that the death was from natural causes and not from
4 any criminal act or neglect of another.
5 Section 1239. Bodies Not to be Moved.--In all cases where
6 the [coroner] medical examiner has jurisdiction to investigate
7 the facts and circumstances of death, the body and its
8 surroundings shall be left untouched until the [coroner] medical
9 examiner has had a view thereof and until he shall otherwise
10 direct or authorize, except as may be otherwise provided by law,
11 or as circumstances may require. Bodies upon a public
12 thoroughfare or in other places may be removed so much as is
13 necessary for precaution against traffic accidents or other
14 serious consequences which might reasonably be anticipated if
15 they were left intact.
16 Section 1240. Release of [Coroner's] Medical Examiner's
17 Jurisdiction.--Whenever the [coroner] medical examiner assumes
18 jurisdiction of a body pursuant to the provisions of this
19 subdivision or of any other law, the body shall not be released
20 or removed from his jurisdiction except upon his direction and
21 consent, in accordance with law.
22 Section 1241. Cooperation with District Attorney.--In the
23 exercise of his duties as contained in this subdivision, the
24 [coroner] medical examiner shall, so far as may be practicable,
25 consult and advise with the district attorney.
26 Section 1242. Certificate of Cause of Death.--The [coroner]
27 medical examiner shall issue a certificate of cause of death in
28 all cases referred to him by the local registrar of vital
29 statistics, pursuant to the provisions of the act, approved the
30 twenty-first day of May, one thousand nine hundred forty-three
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1 (Pamphlet Laws 414), known as the Uniform Vital Statistics Act,
2 and in all other cases of which he has jurisdiction, if no
3 person duly authorized by the said act certifies the cause of
4 death.
5 Section 1243. Power of Subpoena and Attachment.--The
6 [coroner] medical examiner shall have power to issue subpoenas
7 to obtain the attendance of any person whom it may be necessary
8 to examine as a witness at any inquest, and to compel attendance
9 by attachment in like manner and to the same extent as any court
10 of oyer and terminer and general jail delivery of this
11 Commonwealth may or can do in cases pending before them, and
12 also to compel in like manner the production of all papers and
13 other things relative to such inquest. Such subpoena and
14 attachment shall be served and executed by the sheriff or by the
15 [coroner] medical examiner himself or his deputy, as the case
16 may require.
17 Section 1244. Power to Administer Oaths.--The [coroner]
18 medical examiner shall have power to administer oaths and
19 affirmations to all persons brought or appearing before him, and
20 any person swearing or affirming falsely on such examination
21 shall be guilty of perjury.
22 Section 1245. Commitment to County Prison.--If any person
23 appearing before the [coroner] medical examiner for examination
24 shall refuse to take oath or affirmation, or after having been
25 sworn or affirmed shall refuse to make answer to such questions
26 as shall be put to him by the [coroner] medical examiner
27 touching the matters of the inquest, such person so refusing may
28 be held for contempt before the court of quarter sessions.
29 Section 1246. Inquests Not Public.--The [coroner] medical
30 examiner may, in his discretion, admit or exclude members of the
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1 public from any inquest or part thereof, and admit or exclude
2 any person interested or suspected from such inquest or any part
3 thereof. No person excluded may appear by attorney, but any
4 person required to attend may have benefit of counsel at such
5 attendance.
6 Section 6. Section 1247 of the act, amended July 26, 1975
7 (P.L.70, No.41), is amended to read:
8 Section 1247. Chief Deputy [Coroner] Medical Examiner to Act
9 as [Coroner] Medical Examiner in Case of Vacancy.--If the
10 [coroner] medical examiner shall be legally removed from his
11 office or shall die or resign before expiration of the term for
12 which he was commissioned, the chief deputy [coroner] medical
13 examiner of the county shall execute the office of [coroner]
14 medical examiner and perform all things thereunto appertaining
15 and receive the compensation provided by law for [coroners]
16 medical examiners until another [coroner] medical examiner is
17 commissioned and notice thereof is given to such chief deputy
18 [coroner] medical examiner.
19 Section 7. Section 1248 of the act is amended to read:
20 Section 1248. Vacancies; No Fees upon Commissions.--If any
21 person [elected] appointed to the office of [coroner] medical
22 examiner shall neglect or refuse, for the space of two months
23 next after such election, to assume the duties of said office
24 and to comply with the requirements of the acts of Assembly in
25 such cases, the office shall be vacant, and it shall be the duty
26 of the [Governor] the county commissioners, upon the
27 notification of the recorder of deeds, to appoint and commission
28 some suitable person to fill such vacancy[, until the first
29 Monday of January next succeeding the first municipal election
30 which shall occur two or more months after the happening of such
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1 vacancy. Such appointee shall be confirmed by the Senate if in
2 session. No fees shall hereafter be charged on commissions
3 issued to the coroner].
4 Section 8. Section 1249 of the act, added June 21, 1977
5 (P.L.17, No.13), is amended to read:
6 Section 1249. Solicitor to [Coroner] Medical Examiner.--The
7 [coroner] medical examiner may appoint one person, learned in
8 the law, as his solicitor. The solicitor shall advise the
9 [coroner] medical examiner upon all legal matters that may be
10 submitted to him, and shall conduct any litigation in connection
11 with the coroner's office when requested to do so by him.
12 The salary of the solicitor shall be determined by the salary
13 board. This salary shall be paid out of the fees received and
14 paid into the office of the [coroner] medical examiner.
15 All costs and expenses incurred by the [coroner] medical
16 examiner in any manner connected with litigation or claims
17 arising out of or relating to his office, shall be paid by the
18 county out of fees received by the [coroner's] medical
19 examiner's office. The provisions of this section shall apply
20 only to counties of the second class.
21 Section 9. The act is amended by adding sections to read:
22 Section 1250. Medical Examiner.--(a) The office of medical
23 examiner is hereby created and established in second class
24 counties.
25 (b) Except where otherwise specified all powers and duties
26 previously exercised and performed by the coroner in second
27 class counties shall hereafter be exercised and performed by a
28 person to be known as the medical examiner.
29 (c) The medical examiner shall be appointed by a majority of
30 the county commissioners to serve for a period of four years and
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1 may be re-appointed to serve successive four year terms if re-
2 appointed by a majority of the county commissioners.
3 (d) No person shall be appointed medical examiner unless he
4 is certified by the American Board of Pathology as a Diplomat in
5 Forensic Pathology.
6 Section 1251. Compensation.--The county commissioners acting
7 as the salary board shall fix the compensation of the medical
8 examiner and his deputies.
9 Section 1252. Equipment, Facilities Appropriations.--The
10 county commissioners shall make available, according to existing
11 law, the funds for such investigative, technical and clerical
12 personnel, facilities and equipment as the medical examiner
13 shall select and require.
14 Section 1253. Duties.--(a) The medical examiner shall have
15 the following powers and duties:
16 (1) Make a medical determination by autopsy and where
17 appropriate conduct tests and investigations necessary to
18 determine the cause of death in the following cases:
19 (i) Any sudden, violent, or suspicious death whether
20 apparently homicidal, suicidal or accidental.
21 (ii) Deaths of inmates of public institutions not
22 hospitalized therein primarily for organic disease and deaths of
23 persons in custody of law enforcement officers.
24 (iii) All deaths that occur during an association with or as
25 a result of any diagnostic, therapeutic, anesthetic or other
26 medical procedures.
27 (iv) Deaths related to disease resulting from, or related to
28 employment or to an accident while employed.
29 (v) Deaths related to disease which might constitute a
30 threat to public health.
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1 (vi) Deaths unattended by a physician.
2 (vii) Deaths due to alcoholism or narcotics.
3 (viii) Deaths due to neglect.
4 (b) All powers and duties previously exercised and performed
5 by the coroner relating to the determination of the cause of
6 death and conducting of autopsies are transferred to the medical
7 examiner except that the determination to conduct autopsies,
8 tests, and investigations shall be the sole discretion of the
9 medical examiner and may be made without the necessity of first
10 holding an inquest.
11 (c) All powers and duties previously exercised and performed
12 by the coroner relating to the investigation of deaths and for
13 the purpose of determining whether any person or persons other
14 than the deceased were criminally responsible by act or neglect
15 are transferred to the medical examiner. A written report of
16 said determination shall be filed with the office of District
17 Attorney of the county and the municipal police department where
18 an incident occurred which gave rise to the death in question.
19 Section 1254. Inquests; Juries.--(a) The medical examiner
20 may at his discretion summon a jury of six to be selected from
21 the jury panel in the criminal division, court of common pleas.
22 (b) The function of such jury shall be to determine the
23 manner of death and whether any criminal act of persons known or
24 unknown caused such death. Such jury shall be paid as provided
25 by law as if they were serving the court of common pleas.
26 Section 10. Subdivision (c) and sections 1260, 1261, 1262
27 are amended to read:
28 (c) Provisions Relating to Sheriffs and [Coroners] Medical Examiners
29 Section 1260. Not to Exercise Office Until Commission
30 Granted and Recorded; Penalty.--No person elected or appointed
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1 to the office of sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner shall
2 execute any of the duties of such office before a commission
3 shall have been duly granted to him by the Governor and recorded
4 in the recorder of deeds office, under a penalty of imprisonment
5 for a term not exceeding six months, at the discretion of the
6 court of quarter sessions. Such person shall nevertheless be
7 liable to any person injured by any acts done by him under color
8 of such office.
9 Section 1261. Recognizances of Sheriffs and [Coroners]
10 Medical Examiners.--(a) Every sheriff, whether elected,
11 reelected or appointed to fill a vacancy[, not including any
12 coroner temporarily acting as sheriff,] and every [coroner]
13 medical examiner, before he is commissioned or executes any
14 duties of his respective office, shall execute and duly
15 acknowledge before the recorder of deeds a proper recognizance,
16 without any surety, to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the
17 faithful discharge of all of his official duties, in like manner
18 as that of his official bond required by law and in a form
19 containing like conditions as such bond. The recognizance shall
20 be immediately recorded in said county, at the expense of said
21 sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner, and when so recorded
22 shall be transmitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth with
23 said recorder's certificate endorsed thereon of its having been
24 duly recorded and with a reference to the place of record
25 thereof.
26 (b) Every such recognizance hereafter executed shall
27 continue to be a lien on the real estate owned by the sheriff or
28 [coroner] medical examiner at the date of such acknowledgment
29 for a period of six years from that date. Every recognizance
30 heretofore executed by any sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner
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1 shall continue to be a lien on the real estate owned by the
2 sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner at the time the
3 recognizance was dated for a period of six years after that
4 date, but in every case where the period of six years has
5 already expired, the lien of such recognizance shall continue
6 for a period of two years after the twenty-ninth day of
7 September, one thousand nine hundred fifty-one, or to the end of
8 the lien term fixed by law at the time the recognizance was
9 executed, whichever date shall first occur.
10 (c) The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall have and keep
11 the custody of every such recognizance, and any copy thereof and
12 of said endorsements certified to by the Secretary of the
13 Commonwealth shall be competent evidence of the execution,
14 delivery and recording thereof in any judicial proceedings, and
15 may be relied upon by any public officer to the same extent as
16 the original recognizance.
17 (d) The recorder of deeds may also certify copies of such
18 recognizance and the time and place of record thereof for like
19 purposes, upon receipt of his fees therefor, according to
20 existing laws.
21 (e) Such recognizance or any duly certified copy thereof may
22 likewise be recorded and indexed like a judgment in any other
23 county of this Commonwealth by any person or public officer,
24 upon payment of the usual fees to the recorder of deeds and
25 prothonotary of such county, respectively, for the purpose of
26 creating a lien on any real estate of the sheriff or [coroner]
27 medical examiner obligated thereby lying in such other county.
28 (f) It shall be the duty of the recorder of deeds of the
29 county for which a sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner is
30 elected or appointed, as soon as said sheriff or [coroner]
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1 medical examiner is commissioned, to certify the date, amount
2 and place of record of his recognizance, with the name and
3 address of said sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner, to the
4 prothonotary of said county, who shall enter such information
5 upon his dockets and index the lien of such recognizance like a
6 judgment obtained in the court of common pleas of the county.
7 (g) Every sheriff's or [coroner] medical examiner's
8 recognizance hereafter given shall inure to the benefit of any
9 surety on his official bond entitled to subrogation to the
10 rights of any person or corporation, including any county
11 intended to be benefited thereby, injured by any official
12 misconduct or neglect of the sheriff or [coroner] medical
13 examiner who executed such recognizance, to the extent of any
14 payments by such surety for any damages for which such sheriff
15 or [coroner] medical examiner may be held to be liable in any
16 suit or proceedings against such sheriff or [coroner] medical
17 examiner on his official bond or recognizance. A similar right
18 of subrogation may be enforced with respect to any such
19 recognizance heretofore given, to the extent permitted by law or
20 equity.
21 Section 1262. Sale of Real Estate Bound by Lien.--(a) If
22 the sheriff or [coroner] medical examiner shall sell any real
23 estate bound by the lien of any recognizance, such sheriff or
24 [coroner] medical examiner may present a petition to the court
25 of common pleas of the county wherein the land so bound is
26 situate, accompanied by notice to his sureties on his official
27 bond and to his board of county commissioners, setting forth the
28 fact of such sale, and praying for a release of the lien of such
29 recognizance upon the real estate described in the petition.
30 (b) The court, being satisfied of the sufficiency of the
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1 sureties upon his official bond and that no action has been
2 commenced by any person or corporation on said recognizance, or
3 that all suits thereon have been ended by payment of any
4 judgments obtained therein or otherwise, may release the lien
5 upon such land.
6 (c) The court of common pleas of such officer's county may,
7 before the release of the lien upon any such real estate,
8 approve of additional sureties to be added or substituted upon
9 his official bond, as such court shall deem necessary.
10 Section 11. The office of coroner is hereby abolished and no
11 person shall hereafter be elected as any such officer after the
12 existing coroner's term of office terminates.
13 Section 12. This act shall take effect immediately, but
14 shall not apply until the end of the existing coroner's term of
15 office, at which time medical examiner shall be appointed as
16 successor to the coroner in accordance with this act and any
17 increase in salary which may be provided as a consequence of
18 this act shall be applicable to such successor.
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