Request By:
Mr. Jim Parr
News Director
WVJS-WSTO
Box 1828
Owensboro, Kentucky 42302
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Charles W. Runyan, Assistant Deputy Attorney General
You request the opinion of this office as to whether or not the Daviess County coroner has authority to direct to area law enforcement agencies that only he (the coroner) be allowed to give out information to the news media concerning incidents involving death of a human being.
Your letter reads in part:
"Several months ago, Mr. Harl adopted a policy that all Owensboro area law enforcement authorities refer all questions involving fatal accidents, shootings, etc. to him. This means that if Mr. Harl is not available, any information concerning the incident is unavailable to the news media.
"The most recent example of this occurred on this date. A man was killed instantly in a traffic accident in eastern Daviess County around 1:00 a.m. When our news department opened for the morning at 5:00 a.m., we were told by the investigating police agency (Kentucky State Police - Henderson Post) that there had been a fatal traffic accident in Daviess County but that any information concerning the accident would have to come from Mr. Harl. The KSP dispatcher said Mr. Harl would issue a release at 8:00 a.m. We finally got the information from Mr. Harl at around 8:45 a.m., after he reported to his office for the day.
"I do not question that the coroner has the authority to withhold or release the NAME of a deceased victim. But, it does not seem proper that ALL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE INCIDENT (e.g. how many cars involved, where the accident happened, etc.) could be withheld pending release by Mr. Harl at his convenience."
First, a coroner has no official standing or jurisdictional posture except within the frame of a "coroner ordered autopsy" , a "coroner's case" requiring an investigation of the cause of death and a "postmortem examination" , which postmortem may or may not include an autopsy, or an "inquest" . The autopsy, coroner's case, postmortem, and inquest are defined in KRS 72.405(1), (2), (3) and (4) as follows:
"As used in KRS 72.410 to 72.470, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"(1) 'Coroner ordered autopsy' means an autopsy ordered by the coroner having jurisdiction and performed by a pathologist pursuant to such authorization in order to ascertain the cause and manner of death in a coroner's case. In the event the pathologist deems it necessary, he may submit the appropriate specimen to a qualified chemist or toxicologist for analysis to assist him in ascertaining the cause of death in a coroner's case.
"(2) 'Coroner's case' means a case in which the coroner has reasonable cause for believing that the death of a human being within his county was caused by any of the conditions set forth in KRS 72.025.
"(3) 'Inquest' means an examination ordered by the coroner, or in his absence, ordered by a deputy coroner, into the causes and circumstances of any death which is a coroner's case by a jury of six (6) residents of the county impaneled and selected by the coroner to assist him in ascertaining the cause and manner of death.
"(4) 'Postmortem examination' means a physical examination of the body by a medical examiner or by a coroner or deputy coroner who has been certified by the department of justice and may include an autopsy performed by a pathologist or other appropriate scientific tests administered to determine cause of death. "
A "coroner's case" involves a human death described in KRS 72.025. The coroner must investigate the cause and manner of death of all such coroner's cases. KRS 72.410(1). A coroner's case requires a postmortem examination, which may include an autopsy. The coroner may, in his sound discretion, when investigating a coroner's case, order an autopsy and hold an inquest. KRS 72.410(2).
Where the death occurs under one of the circumstances outlined in KRS 72.025(1) through (12), the coroner or his deputy must be notified, who must report to the scene within a reasonable time. No person shall remove the body or anything from the body until directed to do so by the coroner, after the law enforcement agency notified is present or has failed, within a reasonable period of time, to respond. KRS 72.020(1). After the coroner arrives at the scene, he has these responsibilities under subsection (2) of KRS 72.020:
"(2) The coroner shall take possession of any objects, medical specimens or articles which, in his opinion, may be helpful in establishing the cause of death, and he can make or cause to be made such tests and examinations of said objects as may be necessary or useful in determining the cause of death. In the event that a criminal prosecution arises, all such objects and articles together with reports of any examinations made upon them, shall be retained by the coroner until their production in evidence is required by the prosecuting authority, unless otherwise directed by written order of the court in which such prosecution is pending."
Let us now turn to your question as to the coroner's controlling information to the news media concerning incidents involving death.
There is no statute giving the coroner the authority to control the giving out of information relating to human deaths generally.
Secondly, the occasion for the coroner's exercise of discretion as to the giving out of information relating to such deaths would only arise in connection with information obtained through the coroner's exercise of jurisdiction by way of a coroner ordered autopsy, a coroner's case, or inquest. Within that frame the coroner must carefully evaluate and apply the legislative policy expressed in the open meetings and open records law.
In connection with a coroner's autopsy report, it was our opinion in OAG 82-458 that such report is exempt from mandatory public disclosure, pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(f).
As relates to an inquest, it was our opinion in OAG 82-458 that when the coroner files a copy of the verdict with the circuit court clerk (KRS 72.420(3)) the verdict is a record open for public inspection.
When a coroner's inquest finds that a death resulted from a crime being committed and a criminal prosecution arises, all evidentiary material should be turned over by the coroner to the prosecuting authority as provided by KRS 72.020(2). Such material may be withheld from public inspection pending the completion of the prosecution under KRS 61.878(1)(f). But where the cause of death is an accident or where no criminal prosecution is pending or being considered, blood and urine tests results are not exempt from public inspection.
Since the principal function of the coroner in conducting a postmortem or inquest is to aid criminal justice by inquiring into circumstances of violent or suspicious deaths, the object being to obtain information as to whether death was caused by some criminal act (
Ashland v. Miller, Ky., 283 S.W.2d 195 (1955), the coroner should exercise his sound judgment in passing on to the news media any information gleaned from the coroner's work.
Where it appears to the coroner that the cause of death is an accident, or where no criminal prosecution is pending, the coroner can have less restraint in his decision to release information he has gathered to the news media.