Which Louisiana local government paid autopsy and coroner costs when the deceased lived inside a town?

Plain-English summary

A Vernon Parish assistant district attorney asked who should pay coroner and autopsy expenses when the deceased person was from an incorporated area. The attorney general's office answered in 2000 by separating deaths from natural causes from deaths caused by an accident or crime.

For a natural death, the opinion assigned coroner fees and related expenses to the municipality where the deceased was domiciled, or to the parish if the domicile was outside a municipality. For a death due to an accident or crime, it assigned those costs to the municipality where the event occurred, or to the parish if it occurred outside a municipality. The office also noted a separate rule for the initial viewing or investigation when death occurred outside the parish of domicile.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2000. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Municipal officials at the time

The opinion said a municipality paid the stated coroner and transportation expenses when the deceased was domiciled there in a natural-death case. For an accident or crime, the municipality of the event paid if it occurred within municipal limits.

Parish officials at the time

The opinion assigned the corresponding costs to the parish when the relevant domicile or accident or crime was outside a municipality. It also described a separate initial-viewing or investigation fee tied to where the death occurred.

Coroners at the time

The opinion quoted R.S. 33:1556 on payment for examination, investigation, autopsy, and transport. It distinguished the main cost allocation from an initial viewing or investigation by the coroner where death occurred.

Common questions

Q: Who paid autopsy costs when someone died of natural causes after living in a town?
A: The 2000 opinion assigned the fees and expenses to the municipality of domicile.

Q: Who paid when a death followed an accident or crime?
A: The opinion assigned the costs to the municipality or parish where the accident or crime occurred, depending on whether it was inside municipal limits.

Q: Did the parish automatically pay because its coroner performed the autopsy?
A: No. The opinion tied the main cost to domicile for natural deaths and to the location of an accident or crime for other deaths.

Q: What if a coroner first investigated a death outside the deceased person's parish of domicile?
A: The opinion said the parish or municipality where the death occurred paid that coroner's initial viewing or investigation fee.

Background and statutory framework

The office applied R.S. 33:1556, quoting its rules for coroner fees, investigation, autopsy, and transportation. It used the deceased person's domicile for natural-death costs and the accident or crime location for other deaths. The opinion also quoted provisions on the initial coroner's work when a death occurred outside the parish of domicile.

Citations and references

• R.S. 33:1556 (coroner fees and related expenses)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.state.la.us/Opinion/Download/00-0227

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.

June 28, 2000
OPINION 00-227

Mr. Edwin L. Cabra
Assistant District Attorney
30th Judicial District
P.O. Box 1188
Leesville, LA 71446

Dear Mr. Cabra:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to autopsy expenses. You indicate the Vernon Parish Police Jury has paid for transportation and related autopsy expenses without questioning whether the person was a resident of an incorporated area or not, but is now requesting clarification of who should bear these expenses if the deceased is from an incorporated area.

In response to your question, R.S. 33:1556 provides the fees for coroner's services and specifies in regard to examination for the cause of death as follows:

D. (1) The parish or municipality in which the deceased was domiciled, in the case of a death due to natural causes, or the parish or municipality in which the accident or crime occurred, in the case of a death due to other than natural causes, shall pay the coroner's fees and any necessary fees for the investigation and the cost of any autopsy including the cost of transporting the body. However, if the coroner of the parish in which the death occurred initially viewed the body or investigated the death, the fees for such viewing or investigation shall be paid to him by the parish or municipality in which the death occurred.

(2) When the death occurs outside the parish of domicile, the coroner of the parish where the death occurs shall forward all information from the initial investigation to the coroner of the parish where the decedent was domiciled. The coroner or the parish of domicile shall complete all the necessary documents, including the death certificate.

(3) Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary, when a death occurs at any state operated health care or treatment facility, any fee paid by the parish governing authority for the viewing and investigation of a body shall be reimbursed by the state, However, this shall not relieve the parish governing authority of the obligation to promptly pay the fee upon being billed therefor.

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Mr. Edwin L. Cabra
OPINION 00-227
Page 2

E. When a death occurs and the death was due to natural causes, the coroner's fees and expenses, including the cost of transporting the body, shall be paid by the municipality in which the deceased was domiciled or by the parish if the deceased was domiciled in the parish out-side of a municipality.
When a death occurs and the death was due to other than natural causes, the coroner's fees and expenses including the cost of transporting the body shall be paid by the municipality in which the crime or accident occurred or by the parish if the crime or ac-cident occurred in the parish outside of a municipality.

In Atty. Gen. Op. 94-160 this office made the following observations in regard to these provisions:

This office has recognized that in accordance with this statute all coroner's fees in natural death cases be paid by the political subdivision of domicile rather than place of death. However, in case of death due to other than natural causes the parish or municipality in which the accident or crime occurred shall pay the coroner's fees and any necessary fees for the investigation and cost of any autopsy. An exception is recognized for payments for death by natural causes when the coroner of the parish in which the death occurred initially viewed the body or investigated the death, mandating the parish or municipality in which the death occurred pay these fees. Atty.
Gen. Op. Nos. 90-235, 84-338.

We hope this clarifies the responsibility of payment to the coroner for expenses of an autopsy by a parish or a municipality, but if we can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely yours,

RICHARD P. IEYOUB
Attorney General

By:______
BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE
Assistant Attorney General
RPI/bbr

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Mr. Edwin L. Cabra
OPINION 00-227
Page 3

OPINION 00-227

13 Coroners
R.S. 33:1556

For death from natural causes
the political subdivisions of the
domicile pays the coroner's fees,
but for death from accident or
crime the parish or municipality
of the location of the death
shall pay the fees.

Mr. Edwin L. Cabra
Assistant District Attorney
30th Judicial District
P.O. Box 1188
Leesville, LA 71446

Date Received: June 2, 2000
Date Released: June 28, 2000

BARBARA B. RUTLEDGE
Assistant Attorney General