11-19.1-18. State forensic examiner - Authority - Costs

11-19.1-18. State forensic examiner - Authority - Costs 1. The state forensic examiner may order an autopsy and exercise all powers and authority bestowed upon the office of the coroner and, at any time, may assume jurisdiction over a deceased human body. Whenever requested to do so by the local coroner, acting coroner, or the local state's attorney, the state forensic examiner or the examiner's designee shall assume jurisdiction over a deceased human body for purposes of investigating the cause of death, the manner of death, and the mode in which the death occurred. 2. Except for the cost of an autopsy performed by the state forensic examiner or the examiner's designee and for the cost of an autopsy, investigation, or inquiry that results from the death of a patient or resident of the state hospital or any other state residential facility or an inmate of a state penal institution, all costs with respect to the autopsy, the transporting of the body for autopsy, and the costs of the investigation or inquiry are the responsibility of the county.