Disclosure of Autopsy Reports by request per ND Century Code 23-01-05.5

  1. The decedent’s personal representative and to the decedent’s spouse, child, or parent, upon proof of the relationship, if there is no active criminal investigation.
  2.  A physician or hospital who treated the deceased immediately prior to death if there is no active criminal investigation.
  3.  An insurance company upon proof that the decedent’s life was covered by a policy issued by the company if there is no active criminal investigation
  4.  The food and drug administration (FDA), the national transportation safety board (NTSB), the occupational safety and health administration (OSHA), and any other federal or state agency with authority to obtain an autopsy report to investigate a death resulting from the decedent’s type of injury or illness.
  5.  A Professional or research organization collecting data to initiate or advance death investigation standards, after the identifiers necessary to create a limited data set under title 45, Code of Federal Regulations, part 164, section 514, subsection e have been removed from the report.


The state forensic examiner or the examiner’s designee shall disclose a copy of the autopsy report:

  1. To any county coroner, including a coroner in any state or Canadian province, with jurisdiction over the death, and the coroner may use or disclose these records for purposes of an investigation, inquest, or prosecution.
  2.  To any state’s attorney or criminal justice agency, including a prosecutor or criminal justice agency of the United States, any state, or any Canadian province, with jurisdiction over an investigation of the death and the state’s attorney or criminal justice agency may use or disclose these records for the purposes of an investigation or prosecution.
  3.  To workforce safety and insurance (WSI) if the death is related to the decedent’s work, and to any other worker’s compensation or other similar program, established by law, that provides benefits for work-related injuries or illness without regard to fault if there is no criminal investigation.
  4.  To the child fatality review panel if there is no active criminal investigation.
  5.  In accordance with a court order.