By Champaign County CoronerDuane Northrup

ARTICLE VII

LOCAL GOVERNMENT

(c) Each county shall elect a sheriff, county clerk and treasurer and may elect or appoint a coroner, recorder, assessor, auditor and such other officers as provided by law or by county ordinance. Except as changed pursuant to this Section, elected county officers shall be elected for terms of four years at general elections as provided by law. Any office may be created or eliminated and the terms of office and manner of selection changed by county-wide referendum. Offices other than sheriff, county clerk and treasurer may be eliminated and the terms of office and manner of selection changed by law. Offices other than sheriff, county clerk, treasurer, coroner, recorder, assessor and auditor may be eliminated and the terms of office and manner of selection changed by county ordinance.

(d) County officers shall have those duties, powers and functions provided by law and those provided by county ordinance. County officers shall have the duties, powers or functions derived from common law or historical precedent unless altered by law or county ordinance.

    Sec. 3‑3007. Conservator of the peace. Each coroner shall be conservator of the peace in his county, and, in the performance of his duties as such, shall have the same powers as the sheriff. (Source: P.A. 86‑962.)

    Sec. 3‑3008. Coroner to act when sheriff prejudiced. When it appears from the papers in a case that the sheriff or his deputy is a party thereto, or from affidavit filed that he is interested therein, or is of kin, or partial to or prejudiced against either party, the summons, execution or other process may be directed to the coroner, who shall perform all the duties in relation thereto, and attend to the suit in like manner as if he were sheriff; and the interests, consanguinity, partiality or prejudice of the sheriff shall not be cause for a change of venue. (Source: P.A. 86‑962.)

 Sec. 3‑3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine analysis; summoning jury; reports. Every coroner, whenever, as soon as he knows or is informed that the dead body of any person is found, or lying within his county, whose death is suspected of being:

Handout: A

Sec. 3‑3017. Cremation. In any death where the remains are to be cremated, it shall be the duty of the funeral director or person having custody of the dead body to obtain from the coroner a permit to cremate the body….No crematory shall cremate a dead human body unless a Permit for Disposition of Dead Human Body with an attached coroner's permit to cremate has been furnished to authorize the cremation. (Source: P.A. 86‑962; 86‑1028; 87‑895.)

 Sec. 3‑3019. Removal of bodies; violation. No dead body which may be subject to the terms of this Division, or the personal property of such a deceased person, shall be handled, moved, disturbed, embalmed or removed from the place of death by any person, except with the permission of the coroner, unless the same shall be necessary to protect such body or property from damage or destruction, or unless necessary to protect life, safety, or health. Any person knowingly violating the provisions of this Section is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor. (Source: P.A. 86‑962.)

Sec. 3‑3020. Coroner to be notified; violation. Every law enforcement official, funeral director, ambulance attendant, hospital director or administrator or person having custody of the body of a deceased person, where the death is one subject to investigation under Section 3‑3013, and any physician in attendance upon such a decedent at the time of his death, shall notify the coroner promptly. Any such person failing to so notify the coroner promptly shall be guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, unless such person has reasonable cause to believe that the coroner had already been so notified. (Source: P.A. 86‑962.)

Deputy Coroner Coroner Investigator Medical Investigator Medicolegal Investigator Forensic Investigator Medical Examiner Investigator

OF DEATH

Body Investigation

Autopsy / Postmortem Examination

Toxicology Testing Histology Assessment of Body at

scene

Medical History- Medical Records, Family Interview, Physician Interview, Witness Interview

Victimology-Lifestyle, habits

Manner Example

Natural Death

Accidental

Suicide

Homicide

Undetermined

No Trauma

Unforeseen circumstancesUnavoidable

Self-inflicted injuries

Killing of one person by another

Insufficient evidence giving weight to one manner over another

• DNA• Dental Comparisons (Most Common

Method)• Fingerprints• Surgical Implants / Devices• Evidence of Prior Disease or Injury• Tattoos / Piercings• Visual Identification- Family / Friends• Circumstantial- Clothing, Jewelry, Personal

Possessions on / near the body