Ky. Rev. Stat. § 72.025

Circumstances requiring post-mortem examination to be performed by

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coroner. Coroners shall require a post-mortem examination to be performed in the following circumstances: (1) When the death of a human being appears to be caused by homicide or violence; (2) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of suicide; (3) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of the presence of drugs or poisons in the body; (4) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a motor vehicle accident and the operator of the motor vehicle left the scene of the accident or the body was found in or near a roadway or railroad; (5) When the death of a human being occurs while the person is in a state mental institution or mental hospital when there is no previous medical history to explain the death, or while the person is in police custody, a jail or penal institution; (6) When the death of a human being occurs in a motor vehicle accident and when an external examination of the body does not reveal a lethal traumatic injury; (7) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of a fire or explosion; (8) When the death of a child appears to indicate child abuse prior to the death; (9) When the manner of death appears to be other than natural; (10) When human skeletonized remains are found; (11) When post-mortem decomposition of a human corpse exists to the extent that external examination of the corpse cannot rule out injury or where the circumstances of death cannot rule out the commission of a crime; (12) When the death of a human being appears to be the result of drowning; (13) When the death of an infant appears to be caused by sudden infant death syndrome in that the infant has no previous medical history to explain the death; (14) When the death of a human being occurs as a result of an accident; (15) When the death of a human being occurs under the age of forty (40) and there is no past medical history to explain the death; (16) When the death of a human being occurs at the work site and there is no apparent cause of death such as an injury or when industrial toxics may have contributed to the cause of death; (17) When the body is to be cremated and there is no past medical history to explain the death; (18) When the death of a human being is sudden and unexplained; and (19) When the death of a human being occurs and the decedent is not receiving treatment by a licensed physician and there is no ascertainable medical history to indicate the cause of death. Effective: July 15, 1998 History: Amended 1998 Ky. Acts ch. 406, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1998. -- Amended 1986 Ky. Acts ch. 316, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1986. -- Created 1982 Ky. Acts ch. 195, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 4 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2015–2025 · leading case: Harrod v. Caney

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Harrod v. Caney (2018) kyctapp · cites it 3× “This provision prevents the cremation of a decedent in a coroner's case, under any of the enumerated circumstances provided in KRS 72.025 in which a coroner shall require a post-mortem examination.”

Skipper v. Clark (2015) kywd · cites it 3× “On March 18, 2015, Plaintiffs filed this action in Casey Circuit Court alleging that Clark failed to conduct a post-mortem examination in compliance with KRS 72.025, et seq,, which requires that a post-mortem examination be conducted by a certified coroner when the circumstances…”

David Young v. Commonwealth of Kentucky (2025) ky · cites it 2× “405(2) defines coroner’s cases as those “in which the coroner has reasonable cause for believing that the death of a human being within his or her county was caused” by any of the nineteen enumerated circumstances listed under KRS 72.025, which particularly includes deaths…”

Harris v. Green (2024) kyed “The whole point of the post-mortem authorization was to secure, as required by KRS 72.025, an expert view on the circumstances of Kirtley’s death; the administrative form, which Stephens had nothing to do with completing, offers only the slimmest of reeds in terms of weight.”

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