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<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>77911</law_id><section_number>32.1-285</section_number><catch_line>Autopsies</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>32.1-309.1</reference><reference>32.1-309.2</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="32.1">Health</unit><unit label="chapter" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="8">Postmortem Examinations and Services</unit><unit label="article" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="1">Chief Medical Examiner and Postmortem Examinations</unit></structure><text>
						<section id="A"><p><span class="prefix-number">A.</span> If, in the <span class="dictionary">opinion</span> of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, it is advisable and in the public interest that an autopsy be made as part of the investigation of the death, or if an autopsy is requested by the attorney for the Commonwealth or by a <span class="dictionary">judge</span> of the <span class="dictionary">circuit</span> <span class="dictionary">court</span> of the county or city wherein such body is or where death occurred or wherein any injury contributing to or causing death was sustained, or if the decedent is an inmate in the <span class="dictionary">custody</span> of the <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Corrections, an autopsy shall be performed by the Chief Medical Examiner, an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, or a pathologist with whom the <span class="dictionary">Commissioner</span> has entered into an agreement in accordance with &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Commissioner may obtain additional services and facilities" href="/32.1-281/">32.1-281</a>. Upon <span class="dictionary">petition</span> of a member of the immediate family or the spouse of the deceased in a case of death by injury, such <span class="dictionary">circuit</span> <span class="dictionary">court</span> may, for good cause shown, <span class="dictionary">order</span> an autopsy, after providing notice and an opportunity to be heard to the attorney for the Commonwealth for the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> wherein the injury contributing to or causing death was sustained or where death occurred. Further, in all cases of death suspected to be attributable to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), an autopsy shall be advisable and in the public interest and shall be performed as required by &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Death of infants under eighteen months of age; autopsies required; definition of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome" href="/32.1-285.1/">32.1-285.1</a>. A full record and report of the <span class="dictionary">facts</span> developed by the autopsy and <span class="dictionary">findings</span> of the <span class="dictionary">person</span> making such autopsy shall be promptly made and filed with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and a copy furnished the <span class="dictionary">judge</span> or attorney for the Commonwealth requesting such autopsy. In the discretion of the Chief Medical Examiner or an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, a copy of any autopsy report or <span class="dictionary">findings</span> may be furnished to any appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth and to the appropriate <span class="dictionary">law</span>-enforcement agency investigating the death. <a id="paragraph-279359" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-285/#A"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="B"><p><span class="prefix-number">B.</span> In the case of a child death investigation that indicates child abuse or neglect contributed to the death, or that the child suffered from abuse and neglect, the case shall be immediately reported to the child protective services unit of the local <span class="dictionary">Department</span> of Social Services by the Chief Medical Examiner, an Assistant Chief Medical Examiner, or a medical examiner appointed pursuant to &#xA7; <a class="law" title="Medical examiners" href="/32.1-282/">32.1-282</a>. <a id="paragraph-279360" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/32.1-285/#B"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>Code 1950, &#xA7; 32-31.19; 1952, c. 318; 1960, c. 366; 1975, c. 475; 1979, c. 711; 1989, c. 66; 1991, c. 644; 1993, c. 965; 2003, c. 368; 2014, c. 583; 2023, cc. 477, 478.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
