Kitsap County Medical Examiner's office

Nationally Accredited Agency with​ International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners

Goals and Priorities

​To serve the citizens of Kitsap County by providing professional investigations into the deaths of all individuals that die within the County.
To maintain an adequate staffing level to provide all mandated services.
To maintain a safe & healthy working environment for the ME’s staff.
To provide adequate equipment, training, and support to the staff.
To provide compassionate assistance to the families and loved ones in dealing with death.
To provide assistance, training, and education to other agencies and groups requesting our services.
To provide a statistical annual report of deaths within the county.

Responsibilities​

The Medical Examiner is an appointed official with the responsibility for determining the Cause and Manner of Death of all persons who pass within the jurisdictional boundaries of Kitsap County (p. 273,072 (2020)). The Medical Examiner or his/her investigators are required to adhere to the Revised Code of Washington (RCW Titles 36.24 & 68.50) for determining if a case is a jurisdictional death that would require a more thorough and in-depth investigation. 
All deaths are reported to the Medical Examiner's Office 24 hours a day 7 days a week and all deaths are jurisdictional until the Deputy determines if further investigation is needed, this is based on the circumstances surrounding the death.
The Kitsap County Medical Examiner's Office is instrumental in the investigation as well as the prevention of deaths. Medical Examiner's Office personnel are involved in prevention groups such as Survivors of Suicide, Mothers against Drunk Drivers, Kitsap County Traffic Safety Task Force and Reduce Under Age Drinking. For information about State wide deaths, including Kitsap County, Dept Of Health link: http://www.doh.wa.gov/DataandStatisticalReports or http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/