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The Medical Examiner's Office provides death investigative and consulting services that honor those who have died by providing scientific, consistent and compassionate investigation into the circumstance of death.

Investigation as Required by Law

The Anoka County Office of Medical Examiner may provide autopsy investigation, legal consultation, death investigation training, and forensic pathology at the request of authorized persons who represent counties with whom Anoka County has a Medical Examiner’s Service Agreement.

For more information, see the following topics on this page:

• Legal requirements
• Authorized persons
• Service area
• Deaths referred by law
• Autopsy investigation
• Consultation for legal purposes
• Death investigation training
• Forensic pathology
• Medical Examiner's service agreement

Legal requirements

Minnesota Statute 390.11 makes it mandatory that the Medical Examiner or County Coroner investigate and determine the cause and manner of death in: homicides, suicides, accidents, death under suspicious or unusual circumstances, and persons who are to be cremated, dissected or buried at sea.

Minnesota Statute 390.11 also requires an investigation into the deaths of inmates of public institutions who are not hospitalized for organic disease and whose death is not of any type referred to above.

For more information, see deaths referred by law on this page.

Authorized persons

Authorized persons, such as the sheriff, coroner, city or county government officials, and medical examiners may request services from the Anoka County Medical Examiner's Office.

Anoka County authorized officials may request an immediate death investigation or report a death by contacting the Anoka County Sheriff’s Dispatch at 763-427-1212.

Medical Examiner service area (by county)

The Anoka County Medical Examiner's office currently serves the following counties.

As Medical Examiner:

• Anoka County, MN
• Crow Wing County, MN
• Isanti County, MN
• McLeod County, MN
• Meeker County, MN
• Mille Lacs County, MN
• Sibley County, MN
• Todd County, MN
• Wright County, MN

For Specified Services:

• Benton County, MN
• Burnett County, WI
• Douglas County, WI
• Polk County, WI

Requests are welcome from other Minnesota and Wisconsin counties.

Deaths referred by law

Deaths referred by law to the Medical Examiner for investigation include:

1. unnatural deaths, including violent deaths arising from homicide, suicide, or accident;
2. deaths due to a fire or associated with burns or chemical, electrical, or radiation injury;
3. unexplained or unexpected perinatal and postpartum maternal deaths;
4. deaths under suspicious, unusual, or unexpected circumstances;
5. deaths of persons whose bodies are to be cremated or otherwise disposed of so that the bodies will later be unavailable for examination;
6. deaths of inmates of public institutions and persons in custody of law enforcement officers who have not been hospitalized primarily for organic disease;
7. deaths that occur during, in association with, or as the result of diagnostic, therapeutic, or anesthetic procedures;
8. deaths due to culpable neglect;
9. stillbirths of 20 weeks or longer gestation unattended by a physician;
10. sudden deaths of persons not affected by recognizable disease;
11. unexpected deaths of persons notwithstanding a history of underlying disease;
12. deaths in which a fracture of a major bone such as a femur, humerus, or tibia has occurred within the past six months;
13. deaths unattended by a physician occurring outside of a licensed health care facility or licensed residential hospice program;
14. deaths of persons not seen by their physician within 120 days of demise;
15. deaths of persons occurring in an emergency department;
16. stillbirths or deaths of newborn infants in which there has been maternal use of or exposure to unprescribed controlled substances including street drugs or in which there is history or evidence of maternal trauma;
17. unexpected deaths of children;
18. solid organ donors;
19. unidentified bodies;
20. skeletonized remains;
21. deaths occurring within 24 hours of arrival at a health care facility if death is unexpected;
22. deaths associated with the decedent's employment;
23. deaths of nonregistered hospice patients or patients in nonlicensed hospice programs; and
24. deaths attributable to acts of terrorism.

Autopsy investigation

Autopsy, or postmortem examination, is a medical examination of a dead body, including the internal organs, to determine the cause of death. Violent deaths or deaths occurring under suspicious circumstances, according to law, must be investigated. In such cases, an autopsy may be performed to determine the cause and manner of death, as well as to collect evidence for legal proceedings.

Consultation for legal purposes

This service is designed to assist the legal profession by providing clear and impartial interpretation of patterns of injury and disease. Staff pathologists have vast courtroom experience and are available for testimony on all cases. In addition, our pathologists can review cases performed by other offices and offer expert testimony. When appropriate, we can perform "second look" autopsies, as well as post-exhumation autopsies. The role of the pathologist in the courtroom is to represent those who no longer have the ability to speak for themselves.

Important legal questions are resolved by the forensic pathologist's decision as to the cause or manner by which a person died. Both the district attorney's and the defense attorney's case may hinge on the testimony of the forensic pathologist and the findings of the scene investigator and autopsy.

Death investigation training

The Anoka County Medical Examiner’s office provides training for persons wishing to acquire initial competency and advanced skills in death investigation procedures and the roles of law enforcement, first responders, and death investigators.

Initial competency for :

• Death Investigators
  
• Law enforcement
  
• Emergency personnel
  
• Funeral home personnel
  
• Health professionals
  
• Coroners
  
• Medical Examiners
  
• Mortuary Science students through the University of Minnesota Mortuary Science Program

The Anoka County Medical Examiner’s office provides death investigator training that:

• Meets guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Medical Examiners
  
• Helps persons qualify to work as death investigators
  
• Meets the need for continuing education

Advanced skills:
More comprehensive skill training is offered in specialized techniques, such as those needed to investigate deaths that may have been caused by:

• sharp force injury
  
• blunt force injury
  
• gunshot wounds
  
• motor vehicle collision
  
• toxicology
  
• fire/thermal injuries, as well as
  
• postmortem identification
  

For more information, contact the Anoka County Medical Examiner's Office at 763-236-9050.

Forensic pathology

Forensic pathology is the study of diseases and injuries of the community. The forensic pathologist must be knowledgeable about all aspects of medical diagnosis and treatment. He or she also needs to understand non-medical fields such as law; criminology; engineering; highway design; police, social, and political science.

It is the duty of the forensic pathologist to safeguard the health and safety of the community. Infectious diseases and epidemics can be determined as a result of forensic postmortems. By investigating deaths, injury and disease in the community as a whole may be prevented.

Medical examiner's service agreement

Download the service agreement in Adobe Acrobat format.