Wisconsin Statutes
Wis. Stat. § 979.02 (2026)
Autopsies
✓ current as of July 2026
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979.02979.02 Autopsies. The coroner, medical examiner or district attorney may order the conducting of an autopsy upon the body of a dead person any place within the state in cases where an inquest might be had as provided in s. 979.04 notwithstanding the fact that no such inquest is ordered or conducted. The autopsy shall be conducted by a licensed physician who has specialized training in pathology. The district attorney may move the circuit court for the county in which the body is buried for an order disinterring the body for purposes of autopsy. The order shall be granted by the circuit court upon a reasonable showing that any of the criteria specified in s. 979.04 exists. This section does not prevent additional autopsies or examinations of the body if there are unanswered pathological questions concerning the death and the causes of death.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases, 2015–2017 · leading case: State v. Rozerick E. Mattox, 2017 WI 9 (Wis. 2017).
State v. Rozerick E. Mattox, 2017 WI 9 (Wis. 2017). “'s death would prompt a homicide prosecution or that police were involved in any way. The specimens came from the medical examiner's office with information that S.”
Olejnik v. England, 147 F. Supp. 3d 763 (W.D. Wis. 2015). “And, most importantly, Wis. Stat. §§ 979.02 and 979.04 provide that a medical examiner may, in her discretion, ■ order an autopsy *774 for purposes of determining how an individual died if she has reason to believe that death “may have been due to suicide or unexplained or…”
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