The Madison County Coroner's Office is responsible for the medicolegal death investigation of unattended (not under medical care at the time of death), suspicious or criminal deaths. By law, typically deaths occurring under the care of a physician or hospice organization are not under our jurisdiction or reported unless there is suspicion of foul play. The coroner also plans and coordinates any response to a mass fatality incident.
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The Madison County Coroner only completes the medicolegal section of the death certificate if the death was a coroner's case. Funeral providers will create an electronic record in the state death certificate system (EDRS) and select the Madison County Coroner as the certifier. A certification is usually issued within 48 hrs of receipt. If the cause of death is listed as pending, it is due to pending toxicology or autopsy results where further studies are warranted to determine the cause of death and rule out other potential factors. These additional studies are performed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (ADFS), a state agency, with local agencies having no control over turn around times for reports. ADFS report may take up to 3 - 6 months to be returned for our review.
Death certificates are not obtained through the county coroner. They may be ordered at the local health department or through your funeral service provider. Only certain persons are authorized, by state law, to obtain a death certificate.
The Madison County Coroner does not administer the indigent burial/cremation program in the county. Please contact the Madison County Commission directly at 256-532-3300 or coordinate with your funeral service provider regarding indigent services.
The coroner (chief death investigator) and deputy chief investigator maintains national board certification in medicolegal death investigation. All death investigators, in the Madison County Coroner's Office, completes a 9 week, intra-agency death investigation training program that includes training derived from guidelines established by the Department of Justice and the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. We exceed the standard to provide the highest quality of death investigation services to our population served.
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