Mission Statement:

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office is a public service agency responsible for the investigation of violent, suspicious and sudden and unexpected deaths and the provision of laboratory services. The agency is committed to the dignified and compassionate performance of these duties with impartiality and the highest professional levels of quality and timeliness in the service of the general public, medical and legal communities and the overall public health of the citizens of Cuyahoga County.

The Medical Examiner’s Laboratory supports the investigative functions of the Medical Examiner and staff. The Laboratory performs scientific examinations in the areas of Forensic Pathology, Trace Evidence, Serology, DNA, Parentage and identification, Toxicology, Controlled Substance Analysis, and Forensic Chemistry.

The Medical Examiner’s Office utilizes and makes available the information gathered from these investigations to those citizens and personnel who have an interest in developing ways to prevent these types of tragic deaths from happening in the future. Data is also utilized to monitor the effectiveness of publicly funded projects that are already in place and to identify gaps in the system.

Goals:

• To complete fair and impartial death investigations in a manner consistent with the highest standards of excellence with increasing faster turnaround times for death certificates, autopsy reports and testing in the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory.
• Increase capacity of the Regional Crime Laboratory and add the most advanced scientific techniques and equipment to serve all Cuyahoga County justice and law enforcement agencies.
• Become the most highly accredited Medical Examiner's office and public crime laboratory in the United States.
• Provide the largest historical database of public health information in the United States for public research and scientific and epidemiological advancement.
• Retain and recruit experienced, accredited and professionally licensed staff in all the various departments.

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