(1) Death investigations shall be under the direction of the district medical examiner and the district attorney for the county where the death occurs.

(2) For purposes of ORS § 146.003 to 146.189, if the county where death occurs is unknown, the death shall be deemed to have occurred in the county where the body is found, except that if in an emergency the body is moved by conveyance to another county and is dead on arrival, the death shall be deemed to have occurred in the county from which the body was originally removed.

(3) The district medical examiner or an assistant district medical examiner for the county where death occurs shall be immediately notified of:

(a) All deaths requiring investigation; and

(b) All deaths of persons admitted to a hospital or institution for less than 24 hours, although the medical examiner need not investigate nor certify such deaths.

(4) No person having knowledge of a death requiring investigation shall intentionally or knowingly fail to make notification thereof as required by subsection (3) of this section.

(5) The district medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator shall immediately notify the district attorney for the county where death occurs of all deaths requiring investigation except for those specified by ORS § 146.090 (1)(d) to (g).

(6) All peace officers, health care providers as defined in ORS § 192.556, supervisors of penal institutions, supervisors of youth correction facilities, juvenile community supervision officers as defined in ORS § 420.905, and supervisors of hospitals or institutions caring for the ill or helpless shall cooperate with the medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator by providing a decedent‘s medical records and tissue samples and any other material necessary to conduct the death investigation of the decedent and shall make notification of deaths as required by subsection (3) of this section. A person who cooperates with the medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator in accordance with this subsection does not:

(a) Waive any claim of privilege applicable to, or the confidentiality of, the materials and records provided.

(b) Waive any claim that the materials and records are subject to an exemption from disclosure under ORS § 192.311 to 192.478.

(c) Violate the restrictions on disclosing or providing copies of reports and other materials in ORS § 419A.257.

(7) Records or materials described in subsection (6) of this section may be released by the medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator only pursuant to a valid court order.

(8)(a) If a death is suspected to be suicide and the decedent was 24 years of age or younger, the district medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator shall notify the local mental health authority in the county where the death occurred and, if the decedent was a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe in Oregon, shall also notify the tribe’s mental health authority.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the manner of death is suspected to be suicide if the district medical examiner, the assistant district medical examiner, a pathologist authorized under ORS § 146.045 (2)(b) or a designee of the district medical examiner, including a medical-legal death investigator, confirms orally or in writing that the district medical examiner, assistant district medical examiner, pathologist or designee of the district medical examiner reasonably believes that the manner of death was suicide.

(c) The notification under this subsection must include the decedent’s name, date of birth, date of death, suspected manner of death and cause of death.

(d) The notification under this subsection may include any other information that the district medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator determines is necessary to preserve the public health and that is not otherwise protected from public disclosure by state or federal law, including information regarding the decedent’s school attended and extracurricular activities.

(e) The district medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator must provide the notification under this subsection no later than:

(A) 48 hours after receiving notification of the death if the county where the death occurred has a population of 400,000 or more; or

(B) 72 hours after receiving notification of the death if the county where the death occurred has a population of fewer than 400,000.

(9)(a) If a death is suspected to be the result of an opioid overdose or other overdose and the decedent was 24 years of age or younger, the district medical examiner or medical-legal death investigator shall notify the local mental health authority in the county where the death occurred and, if the decedent was a member of a federally recognized Indian tribe in Oregon, shall also notify the tribe’s mental health authority.

(b) For purposes of this subsection, the cause of death is suspected to be the result of an opioid overdose or other overdose if the district medical examiner, the assistant district medical examiner, a pathologist authorized under ORS § 146.045 (2)(b) or a designee of the district medical examiner, including a medical-legal death investigator, confirms orally or in writing that the district medical examiner, assistant district medical examiner, pathologist or designee of the district medical examiner reasonably believes that the cause of death was the result of an opioid overdose or other overdose.

(c) The notification under this subsection must include the decedent’s name, date of birth, date of death, suspected manner of death and cause of death. The notification may include the information described in subsection (8)(d) of this section and be provided as required under subsection (8)(e) of this section.

(10) As used in this section:

(a) ‘Local mental health authority’ has the meaning given that term in ORS § 430.630.

(b) ‘Opioid’ means a natural, synthetic or semisynthetic chemical that interacts with opioid receptors on nerve cells in the body and brain to reduce the intensity of pain signals and feelings of pain.

(c) ‘Opioid overdose’ means a medical condition that causes depressed consciousness, depressed respiratory function or the impairment of vital bodily functions as a result of ingesting opioids. [1973 c.408 § 13; 1985 c.207 § 22; 1995 c.744 § 14; 2009 c.222 § 1; 2017 c.151 § 14; 2021 c.185 § 1; 2021 c.321 § 1; 2023 c.593 § 21]