§15-4-2. Examination of body and report by coroner; postmortem, autopsy or internal examination of body and report by physician or surgeon.

(a) When a coroner has been informed that a person is dead in the county and that such person died without being attended or examined by a legally qualified physician, the coroner shall forthwith proceed to the place where the dead person is lying, examine the dead body to ascertain the cause of death and report same in the same manner as inquests are reported.

(b) When a coroner is unable to determine the cause of death, he may summon any physician or surgeon, who shall make an external postmortem examination of the dead body and report his opinion of the cause of death to the coroner in writing.

(c) If the surgeon or physician is unable to determine the cause of death from an external postmortem examination and the coroner has reasonable cause to believe that deceased came to his death by unlawful means, the coroner may in such cases order any physician or surgeon to perform an autopsy or internal examination on the dead body, and report the findings of such autopsy to the coroner in writing.

(Code 1852, §814; Code 1867, §4365; Code 1876, §3993; Code 1886, §4803; Code 1896, §4926; Code 1907, §7164; Acts 1911, No. 40, p. 22; Code 1923, §4550; Acts 1927, No. 445, p. 497; Code 1940, T. 15, §78.)