§ 23-4-4 - Jurisdiction. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 23-4-4

   § 23-4-4  Jurisdiction. – The office of state medical examiners shall have the authority to makepostmortem examinations, to undertake inquests, and to perform autopsies wherethere may be in its judgment a reasonable belief that the manner of death couldbe pronounced as:

   (1) Death by a homicide, suicide, or casualty;

   (2) Death due to a criminal abortion;

   (3) Death due to an accident involving lack of due care onthe part of a person other than the deceased;

   (4) Death which is the immediate or remote consequences ofany physical or toxic injury incurred while the deceased person was employed;

   (5) Death due to the use of addictive or unidentifiablechemical agents; or

   (6) Death due to an infectious agent capable of spreading anepidemic within the state.