ish, except Or

Sec. 649. A coroner shall be elected in each parish by the qualified electors thereof, except in the parish of Orleans, in which there shall be two coroners so elected, one to perform One coroner the duties of coroner on the left bank, below the middle of for each parCanal street, in the said parish, and the other to perform the leans. duties of coroner on the left bank above the middle of Canal, and also in that part of the parish known as Orleans, right bank; said coroners shall hold their offices for the term of

for coroner.

two years respectively; an election for said coroners shall Time for holdbe held on the first Monday of November, eighteen hundred ing election and seventy, and every two years thereafter; every coroner shall take the oath prescribed by the constitution and laws, and shall give bond and security according to law in the parish of Coroner's Orleans, in the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, and in the other parishes of the State, in the sum of two thousand dollars, for the due performance of the duties of his office. Should

bond.

Qualifications of coroners.

Coroner con

servator of the peace.

Coroners to act

cases of va

cancy.

a vacancy occur subsequent to an election, it shall be filled by the governor, and the person so appointed shall continue in office until his successor shall be elected and qualified.

D. Sec. 872, 3587. Act 1868, p. 207.

Sec. 650. No person shall be eligible for the office of coroner, either by election by the people, or appointment by the governor of the State, who is not a lawful citizen of the State, of fair education, good moral character, and possessed of general business qualities; and it shall not be necessary that he shall have a medical or surgical education, or have been a regular practitioner of either branch of science.

Sec. 651. The coroner shall be a conservator of the peace. Sec. 652. In case of vacaney in the office of sheriff, the coroner for the portion of the parish of Orleans on the left bank as sheria below the middle of Canal street shall execute the duties of sheriff of the criminal courts; and the coroner for the portion of the said parish on the left bank above the middle of Canal street and on the right bank shall execute the duties of sheriff of the civil courts until the appointment or election of a new sheriff; and while acting as such sheriff, the coroner shall receive the same fees as are allowed by law to the sheriff. In the country parishes the coroner shall in like manner fill vacancies in the office of sheriff.

Inquests on

bodies of deceased per

sons.

Certificates of examination.

D. Sec. 3555.

Sec. 653. It shall be the duty of the coroner, on being informed of the violent death of any person within his jurisdiction, the cause of which is unknown, immediately to proceed to view the body and make all proper inquiry respecting the cause and manner of the death; and if, from such inquiry, he shall be satisfied that no person has been guilty of causing or procuring the death, and that there are no suspicious circumstances attending it, he shall, without further proceedings therein deliver the body to the friends, if any there be, for interment; in case there are no friends who will take charge of the body, and if the deceased shall not have left property sufficient to pay the expenses of the burial, then it shall be the duty of the coroner to bury it.

Sec. 654. Where inquests are not held, the coroner shall issue a certificate to the following or similar import:

and

and made inquiry

I, coroner of the (parish or district, as the case may be), of - having been notified of the death of having viewed the body of the said respecting the death, do certify that I am satisfied no guilt attaches to any person by reason thereof, and that an inquest is unnecessary. [And where it shall have become necessary for the coroner to bury the body, the certificate shall continue and say]: "That the deceased has no friends to take charge of and bury the body, nor, as I can ascertain, has he (or she) left property sufficient to defray the expenses thereof, and I have therefore buried the same."

And this certificate shall be filed in the office of recorder of births and deaths for the parish of Orleans, and it shall be the duty of the coroners of the parish of Orleans to file monthly in the said office of recorder of births and deaths for the parish of Orleans, a duplicate copy of all inquests held by them in the parish of Orleans; and all the certificates already filed in the clerk's office of the Fourth District Court for the parish of Orleans, by virtue of the said amended section, are hereby transferred to the office of the recorder of births and deaths for the parish of Orleans to be filed, and to remain deposited in said office.

When inquests

Sec. 655. If the coroner shall have reason to suspect that the person whose body he shall have been called to view came to shall be neces his death by violent means, then, and not otherwise it shall be sary. his duty forthwith to proceed and take inquest of said death.

Act 1868, p. 207.

ners for Or

street.

Sec. 656. In the parish of Orleans the jurisdiction and duties of the coroner for the portion of that parish on the left bank Duty of corobelow the middle of Canal street shall extend and shall be con- leans, below fined to inquisitions on subjects found or brought within the said Canal street. limits, and the jurisdiction and powers of the coroner for that portion of the parish above the middle of Canal street on the Above Canal right bank shall extend and be confined to inquisitions on subjects found or brought within these said limits; Provided, That Provided. nothing herein contained shall be construed as preventing, prohibiting or forbidding persons finding the bodies of drowned persons in the river from notifying the nearest coroner thereof, or as releasing the said coroner from the duty of forthwith holding an inquest thereon.

Sec. 657. When inquest is to be held, the coroner shall summon forthwith five citizens residing in the parish to appear before him at the time and place expressed in the summons, then and there to inquire upon view of the body of there lying dead, when and by what means he came to his death. Sec. 658. If any person summoned as a juror shall fail to ap

Coroner's jury.

pear, without reasonable excuse therefor, he shall forfeit the sum Penalty for reof twenty-five dollars. All forfeitures under this section in New fusing to attend as juryOrleans and Jefferson may be recovered for the benefit of the men. Charity Hospital of New Orleans, by suit to be brought by the administrators of the hospital. In the country parishes, all forfeitures recovered under this section shall be deposited in the parish treasury and for the use of said parishes, suit to be brought before a justice of the peace in the name of the police jury thereof.

D. Sec. 404.

Sec. 659. When the jurors who have been summoned appear, the coroner shall call over their names, and then, in view of the Oath of jurors. body, he shall administer to them the following oath:

"You

solemnly swear that you will diligently inquire and true presentment make, on behalf of the State, when and by what means

of witnesses.

the person whose body here lies came to his death; and that you will return a true inquest thereof, according to your knowledge and such evidence as shall be laid before you, so help you God." If any of the five jurors shall not appear, the coroner shall summon jurors from the bystanders to complete the number of the jury.

Sec. 660. The coroner may summon witnesses at such time Examination and place as he shall direct; the persons summoned shall, for non-attendance or refusal to testify, be subject to the same penalties, to be expressed in the summons as if they had been served with a subpena on behalf of the State to attend a justice's court. It shall be the duty of the coroner, if adjudged necessary either by himself or by a majority of the jury, in order to Post mortem ascertain the cause of death, to order a post mortem examination, examinations. whether surgical only, or chemical also, to be made on the body of the subject of the inquisition, by competent medical practitioners; and the expense of such post mortem examination shall be paid by the parish or municipal authorities within whose jurisdiction the inquests shall be held.

Oath of witnesses.

Testimony in writing.

oner's jury.

D. Sec. 3977.

Sec. 661. The coroner shall administer the following oath to all witnesses:

"You solemnly swear that the evidence you are required to give on this inquest shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; so help you God."

D. Sec. 3978.

Sec. 662. The testimony of all witnesses examined on any inquest shall be reduced to writing and subscribed by the wit

nesses.

D. Sec. 1091.

Sec. 663. The jury, upon the inspection of the body, and afVerdict of cor- ter hearing the testimony of witnesses and making all needful inquiries, shall sign and deliver to the coroner their inquisition, under their hands, in which they shall certify when and by what means deceased came to his death, and his name, if it is known, together with all material circumstances attending his death, and if it shall appear that the deceased was feloniously killed, the jurors shall further state who were charged with being guilty, either as principals or accessories, if known, or with being in any manner the cause of his death, which inquisition may be in substance as follows:

An inquisition, taken at

in the year

on the

day of before the coroner of the parish (or portion of the parish, in case of the parish of Orleans) of upon view of the body of (or of an unknown person), there lying dead. The jurors whose names are hereunto subscribed, having been sworn to inquire on behalf of the State, when and by what means said came to his death, upon their oath do say: [then insert when, how and by what person

or persons, means, weapons or instruments he was killed]. In testimony whereof the coroner and jurors of this inquest have hereunto subscribed their names, the day and year above stated.

D. Sec. 1092.

of witnesses.

Sec. 664. If the jury find that any murder or manslaughter has been committed on the deceased, the coroner shall bind over, by recognizance, such witnesses as he shall think proper to ap- Recognizance pear and testify at the next court to be held in the parish at which an indictment for such an offense can be found; he shall also return to the court the inquisition, written evidence, and all recognizances and examinations by him taken, and may commit to the jail of the parish any witnesses who shall refuse to recognize in such manner as he shall direct.

D. Sec. 1093, 3980.

rest accused

Sec. 665. If any person charged by the inquest with having committed such offense shall not be in custody, the coroner Power to arshall arrest and conduct him before some committing magistrate persons. in the parish in which the inquest is held, to be examined and proceeded with according to law.

D. Sec. 1094.

Expenses, how

Sec. 666. The expenses of the inquest, with the coroner's fees, shall be paid by the parish, incorporated city or town within which the inquest shall be held when the coroner shall make paid. out an account of the expenses of the inquest, and certify under oath that the charges are no more than allowed by law; and in case the charges in the certified account exceed those allowed by law, he shall be liable to the penalties of perjury.

Sec. 667. Any coroner shall, in case of sickness or necessary absence, have power to appoint a deputy to perform his duties. Deputy coroSaid deputy shall possess the qualifications required for the of- ner. fice of coroner specified in section six hundred and fifty of this act; and the coroner appointing him shall be responsible for his acts, and shall pay him out of the fees to which the said coroner may be entitled.

Sec. 668. A coroner shall receive for every inquest held, twenty-five dollars; for every viewing of a body in which no in- Fees. quest is held, five dollars; for every burial performed at his expense, twelve dollars; and for all other fees, including the swearing and qualifying of a jury, the administering of oaths, the returning of the proces verbal, and the summoning of witnesses, five dollars.

D. Sec. 782.

Sec. 669. No other fees than those specified in the foregoing No other fees section of this act shall be allowed to any coroner, any law or allowed. ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding; Provided, That Provided. nothing in this act shall be construed as prohibiting the payment by parish or municipal authorities, of necessary or unavoidable expenses, being certified to as necessary or unavoidable by the coroner and majority of the jury.