§ 677. Records; reports. 1. The writing made by the coroner, or by the
coroner and coroner's physician, or by the medical examiner, at the
place where he takes charge of the body, shall be filed promptly in the
office of the coroner or medical examiner. The testimony of witnesses
examined before him and the report of any examination made or directed
by him shall be made in writing or reduced to writing and thereupon
filed in such office.

2. The report of any autopsy or other examination shall state every
fact and circumstance tending to show the condition of the body and the
cause and means or manner of death. The person performing an autopsy,
for the purpose of determining the cause of death or means or manner of
death, shall enter upon the record the pathological appearances and
findings, embodying such information as may be prescribed by the
commissioner of health, and append thereto the diagnosis of the cause of
death and of the means or manner of death. Methods and forms prescribed
by the commissioner of health for obtaining and preserving records and
statistics of autopsies conducted within the state shall be employed. A
detailed description of the findings, written during the progress of the
autopsy, and the conclusions drawn therefrom shall, when completed, be
filed in the office of the coroner or medical examiner.

3. (a) The coroner or coroners of each county, or the medical
examiner, shall keep full and complete records, properly indexed,
stating the name, if known, of every person whose death is investigated,
the place where the body was found, the date of death, if known, and if
not known, the date or approximate date as determined by the
investigation, to which there shall be attached the original report of
the coroner, or coroner and coroner's physician or physician employed,
or medical examiner, and the detailed findings of the autopsy, if any.
Such records shall be kept in the office of the county clerk except in
those counties having a full-time coroner or medical examiner, in which
case such records shall be kept in the office of the coroner or medical
examiner.

(b) Such records shall be open to inspection by the district attorney
of the county. Upon application of the personal representative, spouse
or next of kin of the deceased to the coroner or the medical examiner, a
copy of the autopsy report, as described in subdivision two of this
section shall be furnished to such applicant. Upon proper application of
any person who is or may be affected in a civil or criminal action by
the contents of the record of any investigation, or upon application of
any person having a substantial interest therein, an order may be made
by a court of record, or by a justice of the supreme court, that the
record of that investigation be made available for his inspection, or
that a transcript thereof be furnished to him, or both.

4. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly
deliver to the district attorney copies of all records pertaining to any
death whenever, in his opinion, or in the judgment of the person
performing the autopsy, there is any indication that a crime was
committed.

5. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall promptly
report to the commissioner of motor vehicles, in a form and manner
specified by the commissioner, the results of all quantitative tests for
alcohol, and for any trace of a controlled substance, as defined in
section three thousand three hundred six of the public health law, that
the coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner has reasonable
cause to believe is present, performed upon bodies of victims of motor
vehicle accidents pursuant to the requirements of subdivision three of
section six hundred seventy-four of this chapter.

6. Notwithstanding section six hundred seventy of this article or any
other provision of law, the coroner, coroner's physician or medical
examiner shall promptly provide the chairman of the correction medical
review board and the commissioner of corrections and community
supervision with copies of any autopsy report, toxicological report or
any report of any examination or inquiry prepared with respect to any
death occurring to an incarcerated individual of a correctional facility
as defined by subdivision three of section forty of the correction law
within his or her county; and shall promptly provide the executive
director of the justice center for the protection of people with special
needs with copies of any autopsy report, toxicology report or any report
of any examination or inquiry prepared with respect to the death of any
service recipient occurring while he or she was a resident in any
facility operated, licensed or certified by any agency within the
department of mental hygiene, the office of children and family
services, the department of health or the state education department. If
the toxicological report is prepared pursuant to any agreement or
contract with any person, partnership, corporation or governmental
agency with the coroner or medical examiner, such report shall be
promptly provided to the chairman of the correction medical review
board, the commissioner of corrections and community supervision or the
executive director of the justice center for people with special needs,
as appropriate, by such person, partnership, corporation or governmental
agency.

7. (a) Upon the written request of the commissioner of mental health,
the commissioner of the office for persons with developmental
disabilities, the director of the mental hygiene legal service, the
executive director of the justice center for the protection of people
with special needs or the director of a mental hygiene facility, as
defined in subdivision two of section five hundred fifty of the
executive law, at which the deceased was a patient or resident, the
coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall provide such
person with a copy of all reports and records, including, but not
limited to, autopsy reports and toxicological reports related to the
deceased prepared by a person, partnership, corporation or governmental
agency pursuant to any agreement or contract with the coroner or medical
examiner with respect to the death of a patient or resident receiving
services at such a mental hygiene facility.

(b) Upon the written request of the commissioner of mental health, or
commissioner of developmental disabilities, or a director of a
departmental facility as defined in section 1.03 of the mental hygiene
law, or the executive director of the justice center for the protection
of people with special needs, the coroner, coroner's physician or
medical examiner shall transmit to the commissioner, or such director,
or any member of the justice center medical review board, original
autopsy slides, tissue materials and specimens taken from the body of a
deceased patient or resident as defined in paragraph (a) of this
section. Such original materials may be used and tested by such office
of the department of mental hygiene, or such director, and justice
center medical review board pursuant to its authority under section five
hundred fifty-six of the executive law. Such slides, materials and
specimens may be retained for a reasonable time, and shall be returned
to the office of the coroner or medical examiner in good condition
allowing for reasonable use for study and testing purposes.

8. The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall
promptly, but in no event later than sixty days from the date of death,
absent extraordinary circumstances, provide the office of children and
family services with copies of any autopsy report, toxicological report
or any report of any examination or inquiry prepared with respect to any
death occurring to a child whose care and custody or custody and
guardianship has been transferred to an authorized agency, a child for
whom child protective services has an open case, a child for whom the
local department of social services has an open preventive services
case, or a child reported to the statewide central register of child
abuse and maltreatment. If the toxicological report is prepared pursuant
to any agreement or contract with any person, partnership, corporation
or governmental agency with the coroner or medical examiner, such report
shall be promptly, but in no event later than sixty days from the date
of death, absent extraordinary circumstances, provided to the office of
children and family services by such person, partnership, corporation or
governmental agency. Where the death involves a child reported to the
statewide central register of child abuse and maltreatment, the reports
referred to in this subdivision shall also be promptly, but in no event
later than sixty days from the date of death, absent extraordinary
circumstances, provided to the local child protective service
investigating the report pursuant to section four hundred twenty-four of
the social services law.

9. When required for official purposes of the state department of
health, the state commissioner of health or his or her designee may
request copies of all reports and records related to a death, including,
but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports. Upon receipt
of the written request of the state commissioner of health or his or her
designee, a coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner, shall,
within three business days of their completion, provide to such
commissioner or his or her designee a copy of all reports and records,
including, but not limited to, autopsy reports and toxicology reports
related to the death.

10. (a) The coroner, coroner's physician or medical examiner shall
report to the division of veterans' services, in a form, and time frame
developed by the department of health in a manner that is protective of
privacy and contains aggregate, rather than individual data to the
extent practicable, any death which appears to be caused by suicide by a
person who, to the knowledge of the coroner, coroner's physician or
medical examiner, is a veteran.

(b) For the purposes of this subdivision, veteran means a person who
served in the United States army, navy, air force, space force, marine
corps, coast guard, and/or reserves thereof, and/or in the army national
guard, air national guard, New York guard and/or New York naval militia,
and/or who served as a member of the commissioned corps of the national
oceanic and atmospheric administration or the United States public
health service regardless of discharge status.