The main purpose of Receiving is the intake and release of decedents. A funeral home or contracted body pick-up service will bring a decedent to the morgue. The decedent is placed on a gurney, toe-tagged, photographed, vital statistics are documented, and articles are inventoried. The decedent is then ready to be processed.

Processing the body can involve one or multiple departments, all handling the decedent with utmost respect. It is determined if a systematic internal examination, or autopsy will be performed, or if the decedent will only be externally examined with toxicological samples taken for analysis.

After examination, the assigned pathologist signs out the case and releases the decedent to the funeral home.