Public Health - Muskegon County - Programs

The Medical Examiner's Office is required by Michigan Law (PA 181 of 1953 and PA 368 of 1978), to investigate sudden, unexpected, accidental, or violent deaths. The Medical Examiner has the authority to order an autopsy at any time it is deemed necessary to determine or confirm the cause and manner of death.

Report a Death | Procedures & Publications | Contact Us

In Muskegon County, the Medical Examiner's Office is associated with the public health department. The office is directed by the Chief Medical Examiner, who is appointed by the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners for a 4-year term of office. The Chief Medical Examiner is a physician certified in forensic pathology, appointed by the Muskegon County Board of Commissioners, to investigate sudden unexpected, violent, suspicious, or unnatural deaths. The purpose of the Medical Examiner's Office is to bring trained medical evaluation to the investigation of deaths that are of concern to the public health, safety, and welfare of the community.

Every state has laws that require official investigation of deaths involving certain types of circumstances. In general, these include deaths that are thought to result from injury or poisoning (such as homicide, suicide, and accidental deaths), and those deaths that are sudden, unexpected, and not readily explainable at the time of death. The main purpose of the Medical Examiner’s Office is to determine the cause and manner of death, and to clarify the circumstances surrounding death. Cause of death has to do with determining which disease or injury actually caused death. Manner of death is a classification in which attempts are made to determine whether death resulted from natural causes (such as disease or old age), homicide, suicide, or accidental injury or poisoning. Information collected during the investigation may also help clarify the circumstances, such as the sequence of events prior to death, or the collection evidence that may lead to the arrest of a suspect in a homicide case.

Although the major purpose of the Medical Examiner's Office is to conduct death investigations, the information obtained from individual death investigations may also be studied collectively to gather information that may be used to address public health and safety issues. An autopsy may show the presence of a disease that can run in families and allow for proper diagnosis and treatment in surviving family members. Thus, the Medical Examiner's Office not only performs specific death investigations, but contributes to the advancement of health and science, as well.

Accurate investigation and determination of cause and manner of death are essential to our society for the following reasons:

The typical sequence of events in a death is:·

During our investigations and examinations, it is not uncommon for us to:

We do not provide copies of death certificates. Certified copies of death certificates must be obtained from the Muskegon County Clerk's Office or from the funeral home. Death certificates are filed in the county where the death occurred.

Our policy is to provide copies of only those reports generated by our office. Copies of reports that we obtain from other agencies (such as medical records, police reports, crime lab reports, etc.) must be obtained by you directly from those agencies...we cannot release them. In general, we try to limit release of our reports only to those persons and agencies who have a direct and legitimate interest in the case in question.

Items we can provide in most cases include, along with their costs:

For the above items, all requests must be made in writing and prepaid. Please include the deceased's name, date of death, and the case file number (if known). Please be advised that a final autopsy report may not be available for up to two months from the date of death. For more information, call us at (517) 364-2561.