FAQs - Medical Examiner

Deaths meeting the criteria below must be immediately reported to the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Wisconsin Statute 979 mandates Reportable deaths:

1. All deaths in which there are unexplained, unusual or suspicious circumstances.
2. All homicides
3. All suicides.
4. All accidental deaths, whether the injury is or is not the primary cause of death and regardless of the time span when death occurred.
5. Maternal deaths following an abortion.
6. All deaths due to poisoning (toxicity or overdose) whether homicidal, accidental or suicidal in nature.
7. When there is no physician or accredited practitioner, who has attended or treated the decedent within 30 days preceding death.
8. When the physician caring for the decedent refuses to sign the death certificate.
9. When, after reasonable efforts, a physician cannot be obtained to sign the death certificate.
10. All deaths of inmates or in the custody of law enforcement.

Although the above cases MUST BE REPORTED per State Statute, THE Medical Examiner has the authority to accept or decline jurisdiction on a case-by-case basis.  When the jurisdiction is declined, the attending physician signs the death certificate.

Additionally, in Polk County, the following deaths are required to be reported to the Medical Examiner’s Office:

1. Any death which occurs during, in association with or as a consequence of a diagnostic, therapeutic or anesthetic procedure.
2. Any death that occurs in an Emergency Department.

In the State of Wisconsin, if the county population is less than 250,000, that county must choose between one of two death investigation systems: a Coroner (C) system or a Medical Examiner (ME) system.  If the County population is greater than 250,000, they must have a ME System.  In 2005, Polk County adopted the Medical Examiner System and Jonn B. Dinnies, was appointed the first Medical Examiner.  The C/ME, have the same authority under Wisconsin State Statute.

Statutory Responsibilities of the Medical Examiner:

The Coroner/Medical Examiner (C/ME) is a statutorily mandated office to establish the cause and manner of deaths that are within the jurisdiction of the C/ME.  The CAUSE OF DEATH is defined as the injury, disease or combination of the two that was responsible for initiating the events which produced the fatal outcome. The MANNER OF DEATH refers to the circumstances in which the cause of death arose, i.e. suicide, accident, natural, homicide or undetermined.

 How to contact the Medical Examiner:

You can e-mail the office at jonnd@co.polk.wi.us or
To leave message notification of a reportable or expected death, call 715-485-9218.  Please leave the following information:

1. Your name and the agency you represent.
2. The decedents name, DOB and time of death
3. The reason for the notification.
4. The mortuary handling the final disposition

If you need immediate assistance, please call the Polk County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch at 715-485-8300.  A communication specialist for the Sheriff’s Department will assist you in contacting the on call death investigator for the Medical Examiner’s Office.

Wisconsin State Statute mandates certain deaths be investigated or at least reported to the Medical Examiner in the county where the death or injury occurred.

In many cases when there is a sudden or unexpected death, at least two jurisdictional agencies are likely to be involved.  Law enforcement agencies have jurisdiction over the scene and associated physical evidence. The Medical Examiner’s Office is responsible for the body of the decedent and any physical evidence in direct contact with the body.  With the exception of life-saving efforts by EMS personnel, the body must not be touched or moved by anyone without the permission of the Medical Examiner.  In many cases the ME will respond to the scene after being requested by local law enforcement.  The ME will examine the body and photograph the scene prior to releasing the body to the funeral home.  At the funeral home, the ME may conduct a more thorough examination of the body and if indicated, collect biological samples.  

The decedent will be taken to the funeral home that the family has requested.  If the family is not known or cannot be reached, the ME will contact the closest mortuary to respond to the scene and remove and store the body until next of kin can be contacted.

The ME will decide if an autopsy is necessary to establish the cause and manner of death.  If an autopsy is ordered by the ME, there is no charge to the family.  In most cases, if the cause of death is determined to be from “natural causes”, an autopsy is usually not necessary.

If any autopsy is ordered by the ME, the body will be transported to the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office in Anoka County, Minnesota.  There, Forensic Pathologist’s will conduct the autopsy on our behalf. 

In many cases, the cause of death is evident at the time of the autopsy.  However, further studies may be necessary in order to determine the cause of death.  These additional studies which may include toxicology and tissue samples, may take many weeks. 

This happens actually fairly frequently.  If the ME does not feel a forensic autopsy is indicated, but the family wants one done anyway, the ME will assist the family in obtaining their own private autopsy.  In this case, the family is then responsible for all costs involved including transportation down and back.  The costs are high sometimes running in the $3000-$4000 range and all pathologists require cash payment upfront for the services as do many of the morticians who would be needed to do the transport.

Yes.  Depending on your situation, you may be offered the option to consent to the donation of certain organs, tissues, bones or eyes.  If donation is requested, the ME will contact our Tissue and Organ Recovery Organization and they will then contact the next of kin to discuss the situation.

Your funeral home that you will be working with will generate a death certificate.  The funeral home will then forward this on to the ME, if the death is within our jurisdiction, for completion.  Your funeral director will work with you to make sure you can get certified copies which will be available through the Register of Deeds Office in Polk County.  In most cases, if there is no autopsy or other issues, it should take no more than a week or so to get a completed death certificate.  However, if there is an autopsy where toxicology is pending or an on going investigation, we would still sign the death certificate but we would mark it as “pending”.  This is still a legal document that serves as proof a death has occurred.  This is acceptable for many organizations.