Office of the Coroner

A: Contact your funeral home of choice as soon as possible. When you speak with the funeral director, advise them that the deceased has been taken to the Coroner’s Office. The funeral director will contact our office to arrange to have your loved one picked up.

A: No. In most cases the identification has already been made. If identification is required, you will be contacted. In addition, viewing of the body is not allowed at the Coroner’s Office. The Coroner’s Office is not designed to handle bereaved relatives. Arrangements should be made with the funeral home for viewing.

A: The body will be taken to the Plaquemines Parish Forensic Center, located at 2018 8^th Street, Harvey, LA.  The Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office provides autopsy services for Plaquemines Parish. Any questions should be directed to the Plaquemines Parish Coroner's Office.

A: Personal property and clothing are sometimes collected as part of an investigation. Personal property is logged and secured in a safe. It will be made available for release to the legal next of kin during normal business hours. Clothing will be released with the body to the funeral home. Any item deemed as evidence will be turned over to the investigating law enforcement agency.

A: A case is classified pending when additional tests are required to determine the cause and manner of death. In some cases laboratory tests (like toxicology) have to be sent to outside agencies and these tests may take several weeks to complete.

A: In most cases the body will be released immediately upon completion of the autopsy.  Occasionally the body may be held longer in cases where additional investigation is required.

A: In most cases the decedent’s attending physician will signed the death certificate. In those cases where there is no attending physician or in those cases under Coroner’s Office jurisdiction, a Coroner’s Office physician will sign the death certificate.

A: Death certificates will be completed as soon as the physician has enough medical and investigational evidence to complete it. In most cases, the death certificate may be completed as soon as we get it from the funeral home. In some cases however, additional information may be required which may take 4-8 weeks and very rarely, longer.

A: Death certificates are not issued by the Coroner’s Office. They must be requested from the funeral home attending the deceased. In some cases, they may be obtained from the Louisiana Office of Vital Records, (504) 593-5100. [add phone number, hyperlink “Louisiana Office of Vital Records” to http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/index.cfm/subhome/21]

A: An autopsy may not be required when the death is known to be a result of natural causes, there is adequate medical history and there are no signs of foul play. If however, there is no known medical history or if there is suspicion of injury, foul play or if the circumstances of the death are unusual, an autopsy is required to determine the cause and manner of death.
 
 **NOTE** The decision to perform an autopsy rests solely with the Coroner’s Office. Family objections may be noted but an autopsy may be required to determine the cause and manner of death.
  

A: In most cases, an autopsy will not prevent an open casket. However, your funeral director is best able to answer this question once he/she has received the body.

A: All unclaimed or abandoned bodies will be considered paupers and will be cremated and disposed of as permitted by law.

A: Under Louisiana law, the Coroner or a District Judge may issue an order for protective custody whenever a credible person signs a request for protective custody stating from personal observation that an individual has a mental illness or substance abuse problem and is acting in a manner which makes that person a danger to him/herself, a danger to others or gravely disabled, all as defined by Louisiana law.

A: An O.P.C. is an order for protective custody issued by a Coroner or District Judge after any credible person signs a request for protective custody. It is a multi tier document that orders the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office to take a person into police custody and transport that individual to a treatment center for a mental status exam.

A: An O.P.C. can be applied for on a 24/7 basis every day of the year. An individual must begin the process by calling the 24/7 phone number of the Coroner at 504-564-2525. No costs are associated with the issuance of a Coroner O.P.C. Copies of the O.P.C. are $25 per O.P.C.

A: No. The O.P.C. is issued for a 72-hour period and can only be issued in Plaquemines Parish.

A: No. Not unless a separate set of facts is done which makes the individual a danger to self or others, or gravely disabled.

A: Within 12 hours, the patient is given a mental status exam to determine of he/she meets the criteria for a physician emergency certificate (P.E.C.)

A: A P.E.C. (sometimes called the first exam) is a physician emergency certificate issued by any physician, psychologist or mental health nurse practitioner after a medical exam when the patient is found to be suffering from a mental illness or substance abuse disorder and is a danger to self, a danger to others or gravely disabled.

A: If the P.E.C. is not issued after an exam because the patient no longer meets the legal criteria above, the patient is discharged.

If the P.E.C. is issued, then the patient is voluntarily detained at the treatment center for 72 hours until the second exam is done by the Coroner, usually called a Coroner Emergency Certificate (C.E.C.)

A: If the C.E.C is not issued after an exam because the patient no longer meets the legal criteria above, the patient is discharged.

If the C.E.C. is issued, then the patient is involuntarily detained at the treatment center for up to 15 days or until the patient is not longer showing any symptoms.