Sacramento County Coroner
The Sacramento County Coroner investigates certain deaths, identifies deceased individuals, notifies legal next of kin, and determines the cause and manner of death. This article explains how to search Coroner records, request investigation and autopsy reports, arrange for the release of remains, understand published fees, and reach the office responsible for your request. It also explains the difference between a Coroner’s report and a certified death certificate so you can request the document you need.
When the Coroner Investigates a Death
Sacramento County has a separate Coroner’s Office. Its investigative and medical staff examine deaths that fall within the office’s jurisdiction under California law. Their work includes reviewing the circumstances of the death, examining the deceased, considering medical records and other evidence, and determining identity, time and place of death, cause of death, and manner of death.
The Sacramento County Coroner’s official website provides access to the public case search, report information, release forms, and information for families. The office also protects personal property found on or about the deceased and notifies the legal next of kin.
Coroner investigations include sudden deaths when an attending physician cannot determine the cause, as well as deaths resulting from homicide, suicide, accidents, or undetermined circumstances. The office also identifies deaths in which the deceased had not been seen by their physician within the 20 days preceding death as reportable cases.
Not every death in Sacramento County requires a Coroner investigation. Generally, natural deaths occurring in a hospital or medical facility, or under a hospice physician’s care, do not require one. A missing result in the Coroner’s public search therefore does not establish that a death did not occur.
Sacramento County Coroner Record Search
The official decedent search offers two search methods: a case-number search or a search using identifying information and a death-date range. Choose the method that matches the information you have before filling out the form.
Searching With a Case Number
If you have the Coroner case number, enter it and select the case-number search option. The system states that all other information is ignored when searching by case number. Adding a name or date range will not further narrow that search.
Keep the case number with your records after locating a case. The office asks for it, if available, in written report requests. Using the same case number when following up helps connect your request with the investigation you are asking about.
Searching by Name and Date
The alternative search includes fields for last name, first name, initial classification, and death-date start and end dates. A date range is required, and dates must use the month/day/year format shown on the form: mm/dd/yyyy.
Prepare the deceased person’s name and the relevant death-date range before beginning. If you do not have a case number, use the name-and-date search rather than selecting the case-number option and expecting the other fields to apply.
Limits on Public Search Results
The database excludes records more than five years old. For an older case, the search page directs users to contact the Coroner or county records. Repeatedly changing a date range will not bring a case outside that coverage period into the database.
Only cases in which the next of kin have been notified appear in public search results. This restriction matters when looking for a recent death. An unsuccessful search can reflect the notification requirement, the database’s age limit, or the fact that the death was not a Coroner case. It should not be treated as a final answer about someone’s status.
Cause of Death and Investigation Timing
The office generally performs forensic examinations within 24 to 48 hours after a death is reported. When the preliminary investigation, examination, and medical-record review establish the cause of death, that information may be available to relatives within the same 24-to-48-hour period.
Some cases require further testing and investigation. In those cases, determining the cause of death can take several months, and the death certificate will show “Pending” in the cause-of-death section. The initial examination and the final determination are separate stages; completion of the examination does not necessarily mean all investigative work is finished.
What Manner of Death Means
The Coroner uses five manner-of-death classifications: accident, natural, suicide, homicide, and undetermined. These classifications describe the circumstances of a death. For example, the office’s published explanations place accidental overdoses, falls, drownings, and motor vehicle accidents within the accident category, while natural deaths involve disease processes.
A homicide classification is not the same as a determination of murder. The office explains that homicide means a person was killed by another person or persons; murder involves the unlawful taking of a human life. An undetermined classification can reflect uncertainty while an investigation continues, although it may remain the final classification when the cause or circumstances cannot be fully established.
Coroner Reports and Autopsy Reports
A Coroner’s report is the investigator’s final report. An autopsy report is the detailed report of the autopsy examination. These are different documents, and neither is a certified death certificate. Identify which document you need before submitting a request or payment.
The office’s reports, death certificates, and fees page describes the documents and publishes the fee schedule. Report charges depend on the case year, with one rate for cases from 2016 forward and another for cases from 2015 or earlier.
Requests From Next of Kin
The first copy of the Coroner’s report is available to the next of kin at no charge. To request that copy, call the Coroner’s Office Monday through Friday between 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The office’s contact information appears at the end of this article.
The free-copy provision applies to the Coroner’s report. The office separately publishes charges for autopsy reports, so do not assume the first-copy exemption covers every document connected with the case.
Written Requests for Other Copies
For a copy of another report, the office instructs requesters to send a written request with a check or money order. Include the following information:
The number of copies requested.
The deceased person’s name.
The date of death.
The Coroner case number, if you have it.
Mail the request to the Coroner’s Office address in the final office listing. The case year determines the applicable report fee, so match the payment to the case rather than the year in which you are ordering the document.
Report Completion and Delays
A report request can be made at any time and will remain on file until the case closes. Copies become available after the report is completed. The office does not provide a specific case-closure timeframe because workload, case-specific investigative issues, and staffing reductions can significantly delay completion.
If several months have passed without receiving a requested report, the office invites requesters to call for a status check. A pending request does not mean the completed document is ready for release, even if the forensic examination took place much earlier.
Certified Death Certificates
The Coroner’s Office does not issue certified death certificates. A certified certificate may be ordered through the funeral home selected by the family or by contacting the appropriate government records office.
The Coroner identifies the Sacramento County Department of Health Services Vital Statistics Unit and the Sacramento County Clerk-Recorder’s Office as county sources for death-certificate information. It also directs users seeking statewide information to the California Department of Health Services, Office of Vital Records.
Keep the document types separate when making arrangements. A request for the investigator’s final report goes to the Coroner, while a request for a certified death certificate follows the certificate-ordering process. Paying a Coroner report fee does not constitute an order for a certified death certificate.
Release of Remains and Personal Property
Most remains can be released immediately after the forensic examination. Homicide cases are held for 24 hours after the autopsy before release. These release rules concern custody of the remains; additional testing or investigative work may continue afterward.
The next of kin have 72 hours following notification of death to make arrangements for pickup without incurring storage charges. This period runs from notification, rather than from the date a family searches the public database or requests a report.
Authorization and Custody Forms
The Coroner provides a Release of Authorization for Disposition of Remains/Property and a Release of Custody Certificate. The authorization form allows another person to handle arrangements or property. The custody form allows a funeral home to take possession of the deceased.
A friend may make disposition arrangements only when the next of kin provides written authorization. Being willing to help, or knowing that a relative is unable to act, does not replace that written authorization. Select the form that matches the action being authorized rather than treating the two forms as interchangeable.
Release Hours and Appointments
Published weekday body-release hours are Monday through Friday, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. General office hours are Monday through Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. These schedules serve different purposes, so an office visit during general hours does not necessarily fall within the body-release window.
The contact page identifies weekend and holiday releases as appointment-based. The fee page also publishes a weekend and holiday regular-release window of 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Confirm the appointment and applicable release arrangements with the office before scheduling pickup. After-hours releases require approval and carry a separate charge.
Viewing Restrictions at the Office
Viewing the deceased is not permitted at the Coroner’s Office. The office directs relatives to arrange viewing at the mortuary. Traveling to the Coroner facility for a viewing will not provide access to the deceased.
Morgue tours and viewing of autopsies are generally prohibited because of medical confidentiality and health and safety concerns. Public office hours do not create access to examination areas.
Published Fees and Payment Instructions
The Coroner’s published schedule identifies the following charges. The page states that its listed fees took effect October 1, 2012. All fees must be paid in advance, either in person, by mail, or online when that option is available.
Coroner’s report: First copy to next of kin, no charge; otherwise $27 for cases from 2016 forward or $137 for cases from 2015 or earlier.
Autopsy report: $27 for cases from 2016 forward or $137 for cases from 2015 or earlier.
Request for autopsy: $5,087 under autopsy and pathology support services.
Body storage: $15 per day after the applicable 72-hour period following next-of-kin notification.
Body release: No charge during published regular release hours; $104 for an approved after-hours release.
Body transport: $400 within Sacramento County only.
Vehicle storage: $16 per day.
Ordering an autopsy report means requesting an existing examination document. It is distinct from the separately priced request for an autopsy service. Confusing these entries could lead to selecting the wrong service or payment amount.
The fee page provides online-payment access for body storage, body release, and body transport. For mailed report requests, follow the office’s specific check-or-money-order instructions. Do not assume an online option for one service applies to every Coroner fee.
Indigent Cremation Eligibility
Sacramento County offers an indigent cremation program for people with little or no income or resources. Both the deceased and the person legally responsible for disposition of the remains must be indigent to qualify. A family’s difficulty paying does not, by itself, describe the full eligibility requirement.
Contact the Coroner’s Office to apply. Explain that the request concerns the indigent cremation program so staff can address that process separately from a report order, certificate question, or routine release arrangement.
For deceased individuals with no known family, the office states that cremation occurs after efforts to locate family have been exhausted. The cremated remains are then held for at least one year before the ashes are scattered at sea.
Unidentified Deceased Persons
The unidentified deceased persons listings are separate from the general decedent search. The Coroner maintains active unidentified-person cases dating back to 1975 and seeks assistance from people who may recognize a description.
Entries are organized by decade and show a case number with identifying details such as sex, race, age category, and date found. Select an individual case number to read its details. Sketches, when available, appear in the case’s attachments section.
Use the case number associated with the unidentified-person entry when contacting the office about a possible recognition. These older listings also serve a different purpose from the five-year public search database: they seek identification in unresolved cases rather than providing a general search of recent named decedents.
Specimens and Paternity Testing Requests
The Coroner retains tissue and blood specimens for one year. In most cases, blood DNA cards are retained indefinitely. Written authorization from the next of kin is required before specimens are released to a laboratory for paternity testing.
The office may retain tissues, organs, or body fluids for analysis or evidentiary purposes when an autopsy, external examination, or toxicology analysis is needed to determine or confirm the cause and manner of death. Its published family questions and answers explain these retention and authorization requirements. A specimen request is a separate matter from ordering a report, and the written next-of-kin authorization requirement applies to specimen release.
Office Location and Public Hours
The Coroner’s Office is at the corner of 49th Street and Broadway, just past Stockton Boulevard. The official office contact page provides location information and distinguishes public office hours from body-release hours.
For a report request or case-status call, contact the office during its Monday-through-Friday public hours of 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Have the deceased person’s name, date of death, and case number, if available, together before calling. Identify the specific purpose of your request, such as the first next-of-kin report copy, an autopsy report, a release appointment, or an indigent cremation application.
Coroner Office Contact
Sacramento County Coroner’s Office
4800 Broadway, Suite 100
Sacramento, CA 95820
Phone: (916) 874-9320