In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated. “Committee” means the Postmortem Examiners Advisory Committee. “Medical examiner’s case” means a death that a medical examiner is required by law to investigate. “Office” means the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

There is an Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in the Department. The Office shall: As allowed by staffing, advance forensic science through medical education and research; and Carry out any other duty established in law.

There is a Postmortem Examiners Advisory Committee. The Committee consists of the following members: The Baltimore City Commissioner of Health; The head of the Pathology Department of the University of Maryland School of Medicine; The head of the Pathology Department of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; The Secretary of State Police; A representative of the Department, chosen by the Secretary; and Any other individual appointed by the Secretary, in consultation with the Office. From among the Committee members, the Secretary shall appoint a chair. The Committee shall advise the Secretary and the Office on: The implementation of this subtitle; and Carrying out the Office’s duties.

The Committee shall determine the times and places of its meetings. A member of the Committee may not receive compensation for performing Committee duties.

The Department may employ a staff in accordance with the State budget for the operation of the Office and to maintain accreditation. The staff shall include: 1 chief medical examiner; 2 deputy chief medical examiners; Assistant medical examiners; 1 chief State toxicologist, 1 deputy chief State toxicologist, lead toxicologists, and assistant toxicologists; 1 serologist; In accordance with the number of positions approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, fellow medical doctors who are training in forensic pathology; 1 chief forensic investigator, 2 deputy chief forensic investigators, lead forensic investigators, and assistant forensic investigators; and 1 autopsy services supervisor, 1 deputy supervisor, lead autopsy technicians, and assistant autopsy technicians. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Department may employ any physician on a contract basis for part–time services or per diem services. The Department shall ensure that the number of staff employed at the Office does not fall to a level that would constitute a Phase II violation according to the National Association of Medical Examiners. The Chief Medical Examiner and deputy chief medical examiners shall be board certified in anatomic and forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. Assistant medical examiners appointed on or after October 1, 2008, shall be certified by the American Board of Pathology in anatomic and forensic pathology or obtain that certification within the assistant medical examiner’s period of board eligibility provided by the American Board of Pathology. The Secretary shall consult with the Committee regarding matters related to the employment of the Chief Medical Examiner. With the approval of the Secretary of Budget and Management, the Department shall set the compensation for personnel appointed under subsection (a)(2) of this section. The Office shall see that proper equipment is provided for the medical examiners. The Chief Medical Examiner, a deputy chief medical examiner, or an assistant medical examiner shall be on call at all times to perform the duties set forth in this subtitle. The State budget shall include an appropriation to carry out this subtitle, including provisions for: The fee for an authorized pathologist; The necessary expenses for transportation of a body for examination by a medical examiner or for autopsy; and In the case of a victim of homicide, the necessary expenses for transportation of the body from the site of the autopsy or examination to a location within the State specified by the victim’s family.

This section does not apply to Baltimore City. Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Office may appoint one or more deputy medical examiners and forensic investigators for each county. The Office shall appoint a deputy medical examiner for a county from a list of qualified individuals submitted to the Office by the medical society of the county. The number of names on the list shall be at least twice the number of vacancies. If a county does not have a medical society or if the medical society does not submit a list of names, the Office may appoint a deputy medical examiner for the county without a list. Each deputy medical examiner appointed under subsection (b) of this section shall be a physician. If necessary, a deputy medical examiner may deputize another physician in the county to act as deputy medical examiner. Each deputy medical examiner is entitled: For each medical examiner’s case that the examiner investigates, to a fee that is set in accordance with the State budget; If the examiner is called as a witness before a grand jury or in a criminal case, to the fee that the court sets; and To any additional compensation that a county provides.

The Department, in consultation with the Committee, may adopt rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this subtitle.

A medical examiner shall investigate the death of a human being if the death occurs: By violence; By suicide; By casualty; Suddenly, if the deceased was in apparent good health or unattended by a physician; or In any suspicious or unusual manner. A medical examiner shall investigate the death of a human fetus if: Regardless of the duration of the pregnancy, the death occurs before the complete expulsion or extraction of the fetus from the mother; and The mother is not attended by a physician at or after the delivery. If a medical examiner’s case occurs, the police or sheriff immediately shall notify the medical examiner and State’s Attorney for the county where the body is found and give the known facts concerning the time, place, manner, and circumstances of the death. Immediately on notification that a medical examiner’s case has occurred, the medical examiner or an investigator of the medical examiner shall go to and take charge of the body. The medical examiner or the investigator shall investigate fully the essential facts concerning the medical cause of death and, before leaving the premises, reduce these facts and the names and addresses of witnesses to writing, which shall be filed in the medical examiner’s office. The medical examiner or the investigator shall take possession of and deliver to the State’s Attorney or the State’s Attorney’s designee any object or article that, in the opinion of the medical examiner or the investigator, may be useful in establishing the cause of death. If the next of kin of the deceased is not present at the investigation, the police officer or sheriff at the investigation or, if a police officer or sheriff is not present, the medical examiner or the investigator shall: Take possession of all property of value found on the body; In the report of the death, make an exact inventory of the property; and Deliver the property to the appropriate sheriff or police department. The sheriff or police department shall surrender the property to the person who is entitled to its possession or custody. If the case involves the unexpected death of a child, the medical examiner shall notify the chairperson of the local child fatality review team for the county in which the child resided. If the case involves the death of a child and the death is believed to be caused by abuse or neglect, or there is evidence suggesting that the child was a victim of abuse or neglect, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall orally report the findings and deliver a copy of the child’s final autopsy report to the local department of social services and the local law enforcement agency of the county in which the child last resided in accordance with § 5–704 of the Family Law Article.

If the cause of death is established to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, the medical examiner who investigates the case shall file in the medical examiner’s office a report on the cause of death within 30 days after notification of the case. If the medical examiner who investigates a medical examiner’s case considers an autopsy necessary, the Chief Medical Examiner, a deputy chief medical examiner, an assistant medical examiner, or a pathologist authorized by the Chief Medical Examiner shall perform the autopsy. If the family of the deceased objects to an autopsy on religious grounds, the autopsy may not be performed unless authorized by the Chief Medical Examiner or by the Chief Medical Examiner’s designee. In accordance with normal standards of medical practice, the medical examiner performing the autopsy may retain any medical evidence, tissue, or organ needed to carry out the duties of this subtitle. The medical examiner shall dispose of any medical evidence, tissue, or organ under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph in accordance with normal standards of medical practice. A medical examiner shall conduct an autopsy of any fire fighter and any sworn personnel of the State Fire Marshal’s Office who dies in the line of duty or as a result of injuries sustained in the line of duty. The autopsy shall include: A toxicological analysis for toxic fumes; Gross and microscopic studies of heart, lung, and any other tissue involved; Appropriate studies of blood and urine; and Appropriate studies of body fluids and body tissues. If the medical examiner determines toxic fumes were the cause of death, the medical examiner shall: Investigate to the extent possible the source of the fumes; and Prepare a written report on the specific effects of the fumes on human tissue. The autopsy and analysis shall be sufficient to determine eligibility for benefits under the federal Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Act of 1976. The individual who performs the autopsy shall prepare detailed written findings during the progress of the autopsy. The findings prepared under subparagraph (i) of this paragraph and the conclusions drawn from them shall be filed in the office of the medical examiner for the county where the death occurred. The original copy of the findings and conclusions shall be filed in the Office. The Department and the Committee may not interfere with the clinical findings or conclusions prepared under subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph. Except in a case of a finding of homicide, a person in interest as defined in § 4–101 of the General Provisions Article may request the medical examiner to correct findings and conclusions on the cause and manner of death recorded on a certificate of death under § 4–502 of the General Provisions Article within 180 days after the medical examiner files those findings and conclusions. If the Chief Medical Examiner denies the request of a person in interest to correct findings and conclusions on the cause and manner of death, the person in interest may appeal the denial to the Secretary, who shall refer the matter to the Office of Administrative Hearings. A contested case hearing under this subparagraph shall be a hearing both on the denial and on the establishment of the findings and conclusions on the cause and manner of death. The administrative law judge shall submit findings of fact to the Secretary. After reviewing the findings of the administrative law judge, the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, shall issue an order to: Adopt the findings of the administrative law judge; or Reject the findings of the administrative law judge, and affirm the findings of the medical examiner. The appellant may appeal a rejection under subparagraph (iv)2 of this paragraph to a circuit court of competent jurisdiction. If the final decision of the Secretary, or of the Secretary’s designee, or of a court of competent jurisdiction on appeal, establishes a different finding or conclusion on the cause or manner of death of a deceased than that recorded on the certificate of death, the medical examiner shall: Amend the certificate to reflect the different finding or conclusion under §§ 4–212 and 4–214 of this article and § 4–502 of the General Provisions Article; and If the cause or manner of death was amended or corrected to be undetermined or homicide: Provide notice to the State’s Attorney and the local law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction where the body was found of the different finding or conclusion on the cause or manner of death of the deceased than that previously recorded on the death certificate; and Request that the Secretary send the person in interest a certified death certificate with the cause or manner of death amended in accordance with item 1 of this subparagraph at no cost to the person in interest. The final decision of the Secretary, or the Secretary’s designee, or of a court under this paragraph may not give rise to any presumption concerning the application of any provision of or the resolution of any claim concerning a policy of insurance relating to the deceased. If the findings of the medical examiner are upheld by the Secretary, the appellant is responsible for the costs of the contested case hearing. Otherwise, the Department is responsible for the costs of the hearing. The Chief Medical Examiner shall set a reasonable fee for performing an autopsy by an authorized pathologist.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall keep complete records on each medical examiner’s case. The records shall be indexed properly and include: The name, if known, of the deceased; The place where the body was found; The date, cause, and manner of death; and All other available information about the death. The original report of the medical examiner who investigates a medical examiner’s case and the findings and conclusions of any autopsy shall be attached to the record of the medical examiner’s case. The Chief Medical Examiner or, if the Chief Medical Examiner is absent or cannot act, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner or an assistant medical examiner, and each deputy medical examiner promptly shall deliver to the State’s Attorney for the county where the body was found a copy of each record that relates to a death for which the medical examiner considers further investigation advisable. A State’s Attorney may obtain from the office of a medical examiner a copy of any record or other information that the State’s Attorney considers necessary. In this subsection, “record”: Means the result of an external examination of or an autopsy on a body; and Does not include a statement of a witness or other individual. A record of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner or any deputy medical examiner, if made by the medical examiner or by anyone under the medical examiner’s direct supervision or control, or a certified transcript of that record, is competent evidence in any court in this State of the matters and facts contained in it. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner shall charge a reasonable fee for reports as specified in a schedule of fees defined in the regulations of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. A deputy medical examiner may keep any fee collected by the deputy medical examiner.

Subject to the limitations in § 5–310(c) of this subtitle, a medical examiner may administer oaths, take affidavits, and make examinations as to any matter within the medical examiner’s jurisdiction.