Contact
Office: (606) 783-0485
Dispatch: (606) 784-7511
Cell: (606) 356-0900
Fax: (606) 467-2112
Email: john.northcutt@rowancoroner.com
P.O. Box 519
Morehead, KY 40351
John Northcutt
County Coroner
Duties of the Coroner
The Coroner’s Office is mandated by Kentucky law to establish the Manner and Cause of Death. The Cause of Death is the injury, disease, or a combination of the two that caused the death of the person. The Manner of Death is ruled by the Coroner to be Natural, Suicidal, Accidental, a Homicide, Unknown, or Pending.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky deals with many kinds of death that include:
•Skeletal remains
•Homicides
•Suicides
•Occupational deaths
•Deaths occurring in a correctional facility
•Deaths within a medical facility less than 24 hours of admission
•Fatal motor vehicle deaths
•Mass fatalities.
Additional Responsibilities of the Coroner
In a death scene investigation, the coroner or his deputy has the responsibility of pronouncing death, determining the time of death, taking into custody the body and property on the body, ensuring the body has not been moved from the original death scene, making a positive identification of the body, notifying of the next of kin, signing the death certificate, completing required forms and records for each death investigation, and interacting with other appropriate agencies.
