Coroner's Office

The Mesa County Coroner’s Office is charged with investigating certain categories of deaths that could potentially be from violence among many others, including:

• Due to drugs or toxins
• Deaths that are sudden and unexpected
• Hospital deaths where the individual died less than 24 hours after admission to the hospital
• In-custody deaths

Not all deaths in the county fall under the jurisdiction of the Mesa County Coroner’s Office. For example, an older person who has a significant natural disease process and dies after an extended stay in a hospital would not be considered a case the Coroner’s Office would investigate.

The Coroner’s Office acts independently from law enforcement and is it’s “own office” when they do their investigations. The office gains knowledge of each death through methods including:

• Scene investigation
• Interviews with family and witnesses
• Medical record review
• Autopsy examination