Kansas Attorney General Opinion 1992-138

ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL October 27, 1992
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 92- 138
The Honorable Norma Daniels
State Senator, 13th District
P.O. Box 128
Valley Center, Kansas 67147
Re: District Officers and Employees -- District
Coroners -- District Coroner; Notification of Death
to Coroner or Deputy, When; Duties of Coroner
Synopsis: Upon receipt of notice of a death from other than
natural causes, a coroner is required to take
charge of a dead body within a period of time which
is reasonable under the circumstances. The type of
notice and the time frame for notifying the coroner
should also be reasonable under the circumstances.
Since a search warrant may be the preferable course
of action in some situations, coroners are
counseled to seek the advice of the district or
county attorney in specific cases. Cited herein:
K.S.A. 22a-231, as amended by L. 1992, ch. 312,
§ 35; K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232.
Dear Senator Daniels:
As state senator for the 13th district, you request our
opinion regarding the responsibilities and duties of coroners
pursuant to K.S.A. 22a-231, as amended, and K.S.A. 1991 Supp.
22a-232.
In relation to those statutes you pose the following questions:

"1. Are there any circumstances under which anyone may
prohibit the coroner from taking charge of the dead body as
provided under K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232?
"2. As a public officer acting under authority of K.S.A. 1991
Supp. 22a-232, does the coroner have the right of immediate
access to the dead body after receiving notice and upon the
coroner's arrival at the place where the dead body is located?
"3. If the dead body is located in a house or other residence
and has been examined by emergency medical service personnel,
is it necessary for the coroner or someone on behalf of the
coroner to obtain a search warrant before the coroner may take
charge of the dead body under K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232?
"4. Under what circumstances, if any, would a coroner need to
obtain a search warrant to take charge of the dead body under
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232?
"5. Since the coroner's authority to take charge of the dead
body is conditioned upon receipt of notice pursuant to K.S.A.
22a-231, and the coroner may be notified under that statute by
the physician in attendance, by any law enforcement officer,
by the embalmer, by any person who is or may in the future be
required to notify the coroner or by any other person, what
type of notice (oral, written, telefacsimile or other) must
the coroner receive to have received notice contemplated under
22a-232?
"6. Under K.S.A. 22a-231, the statute requires that when
any person dies or human body is found dead where death occurs
under suspicious or other circumstances as specified in
22a-231, the coroner shall be notified. Does this statutory
mandate to notify the coroner when a person dies under such
circumstances allow a person charged with notifying the
coroner (i.e., the physician in attendance, . . . any law
enforcement officer, . . . the embalmer, . . . any person who
is or may in the future be required to notify the coroner or .
. . any other person) to delay that notification or is the
notification to be given as soon as the person who has a duty
to notify under K.S.A. 22a-231 realizes that the circumstances
of the death are such that the coroner must be notified?"
(Emphasis original).
The role of the coroner was summarized in State v. Gordon,
219 Kan. 643 (1976):

"A deputy district coroner is a public
officer whose primary duty is to determine
the cause of death of a person dying from
other than natural causes. K.S.A. 19-1031
[now K.S.A. 22a-231]; See 18 C.J.S.
Coroners, §S 1, 12. Whenever a person
dies under conditions specified by
statute, the coroner is to be notified
(K.S.A. 19-1031) [now K.S.A. 22a-231].
Upon such notification, the coroner is to
take charge of the dead body, make
inquires regarding cause of death and
reduce his findings to a written report.
(K.S.A. 19-1032) [now K.S.A. 1991 Supp.
22a-232]. It is within his discretion to
conduct an autopsy. (K.S.A. 19-1033) [now
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-233]." 219 Kan. at
648-649.
Specifically, K.S.A. 22a-231, as amended by L. 1992, ch. 312,
35 provides:
"When any person dies, or human body is
found dead in any county of the state, and
the death is suspected to have been the
result of violence, caused by unlawful
means or by suicide, or by casualty, or
suddenly when the decedent was in apparent
health, or when decedent was not regularly
attended by a licensed physician, or in
any suspicious or unusual manner, or when
in police custody, or when in a jail or
correctional institution, or in any
circumstances specified under section 32
or when the determination of the cause of
a death is held to be in the public
interest, the coroner or deputy coroner of
the county in which such death occurred or
dead body was found, shall be notified by
the physician in attendance, by any law
enforcement officer, by the embalmer, by
any person who is or may in the future be
required to notify the coroner or by any
other person."
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232 provides:

"Upon receipt of notice pursuant to K.S.A.
22a-231 and amendments thereto, the
coroner shall take charge of the dead
body, make inquiries regarding the cause
of death and reduce the findings to a
report in writing."
In your first question you ask whether there are any
circumstances under which anyone may prohibit the coroner from
taking charge of the dead body as provided by K.S.A. 1991
Supp. 22a-232. The plain language of the statute clearly
requires the coroner to "take charge of the dead body" once
the coroner has been notified. There is no statutory
authority which would permit anyone to prohibit a coroner from
complying with his or her statutory duties. We are, however,
mindful of the distinction between prohibiting a coroner from
taking charge of a dead body and requiring a coroner to
respect any necessary law enforcement crime scene activities.
The former would be unlawful; the latter a reasonable exercise
of discretion.
In your second question you ask if the coroner has the right
to immediate access to the dead body after receiving notice.
We note that K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232 is framed in terms of
the responsibilities of the coroner ("take charge of the dead
body, make inquiries regarding the cause of death and reduce
the findings to a report in writing"), not in terms of any
"rights" of the coroner. In our opinion, K.S.A. 1991 Supp.
22a-232 does not confer any enforceable "rights" on a
coroner.
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 22a-232 is silent regarding the exact moment
the coroner is to "take charge of the dead body." Instead,
the time frame of taking charge of the dead body is phrased in
terms of "upon receipt of notice." Since the statute does not
specify the exact time at which the coroner is to take charge
of the dead body, the standard clearly must be in terms of
what is reasonable under the circumstances. Statutes must be
construed with reason considering the practicalities of the
subject matter addressed. Anderson v. Overland Park Credit
Union, 231 Kan. 97 (1982).
In your third and fourth questions you inquire about the
necessity of the coroner obtaining a search warrant prior to
taking charge of the dead body. The Kansas Supreme Court has
addressed this issue in the context of an arson-homocide
case in which the defendant contended any evidence obtained as
a result of the autopsy on the body of his wife was

inadmissible. He argued that he had a property interest in
the corpse of his wife, and, therefore, a search warrant was
required before the body could lawfully be removed from the
premises. The court reviewed the statutory sections
concerning the office of district coroner, and then held:
"Under the foregoing statutes defendant's
argument with respect to . . . the
necessity of a search warrant for removal
of the corpse, must be rejected. By
directing his neighbor to call the police
and fire departments, defendant consented
to their presence in his residence. Even
had defendant objected to their entry,
authorized firemen have authority to enter
a house and investigate if there is any
reason to believe that the fire was of an
incendiary origin. (K.S.A. 31-127). The
officers were lawfully within the premises
when they became suspicious about the
death and the fire. Therefore, evidence,
including the dead body, which was in
plain view of the officers, was subject to
the seizure without a warrant. (State v.
Huff, 220 Kan. 162, 5512 P.2d 880; and
State v. Frizzel, supra.)" State v.
Miller, 222 Kan. 405, 413 (1977).
Under the circumstances presented in State v. Miller,
supra, autopsy evidence obtained without a search warrant
was held admissible. However, other circumstances may dictate
that the more prudent course of action is to obtain a search
warrant in order to secure the admissibility of evidence.
Questions relating to the wisdom or necessity of obtaining a
search warrant are so fact specific that it is impossible to
give one inclusive answer. Accordingly, our response must be
that the coroner should seek the advice of the appropriate
district or county attorney for a determination based on the
circumstances of the particular case.
In your fifth question you ask what type of notice is required
or contemplated by K.S.A. 22a-231, as amended. Since the
statute is silent regarding any specific type of notice, in
our opinion notice which is reasonable under the circumstances
would satisfy the statutory requirement.
In your sixth question you ask specifically when the notice
requirement of K.S.A. 22a-231 is triggered, i.e. immediately

or after some period of delay. Again, since the statute is
silent regarding any exact time of notification, in our
opinion notice to the coroner within a reasonable period of
time would satisfy the statutory requirement.
In relation to your fifth and sixth questions, we refer to
Mahone v. Mahone, 213 Kan. 346, Syl. T 1 (1973):
"A statute is not to be given an arbitrary
construction, according to the strict
letter, but one that will advance the
sense and meaning fairly deductible from
the context."
In conclusion, upon receipt of notice of a death from other
than natural causes, a coroner is required to take charge of a
dead body within a period of time which is reasonable under
the circumstances. The type of notice and the time frame for
notifying the coroner should also be reasonable under the
circumstances. Since a search warrant may be the preferable
course of action in some situations, coroners are counseled to
seek the advice of the district or county attorney in specific
cases.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF KANSAS
Camille Nohe
Assistant Attorney General
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