How to Find a Cause of Death in Minnesota (2026)

Cause of death in Minnesota is recorded on the death certificate and, when a medical examiner or coroner investigates, in that office's records as well. All Minnesota death records are public, so anyone may buy a noncertified (informational only) death record. The certified death certificate is issued in two versions, one with cause of death information and one without it, and certified copies go only to requesters Minnesota law makes eligible.

How Do You Find Someone's Cause of Death in Minnesota?

You find a cause of death in Minnesota by obtaining a death certificate that carries the medical certification section, or, when a medical examiner or coroner investigated the death, by asking that office for the cause and manner of death. All Minnesota death records are public, so anyone may buy a noncertified (informational only) copy from the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Vital Records or from a county vital records office. The certified death certificate is offered in two versions, one with cause of death information and one without it, and a certified copy of either version goes only to an eligible requester.

The Department of Health does not publish a field list for the noncertified copy. Its guidance says that both certified and noncertified records show the subject's name, sex, date and place of birth or death, and parent information, which is a shared minimum rather than a complete list, and it does not state whether the cause of death is printed on the noncertified copy. Ask the Office of Vital Records or your county vital records office what that copy will show before you pay the fee.

If the death was investigated by a medical examiner or coroner, the cause and manner of death held by that office are public to anyone under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, and a more detailed autopsy report may also exist. The detailed investigative file and autopsy findings are nonpublic, reaching close family and estate representatives, and they become public 30 years after the death. Anyone outside that group may petition the district court to release them sooner.

For a quick, no-cost route, the obituary or a newspaper account often states the cause directly. For the full official record, request a death record through the Office of Vital Records or a county vital records office.

To compare access rules across states, see Death Records by State.

Is the Cause of Death Public in Minnesota?

Minnesota death records themselves are public. The Department of Health states that all Minnesota death records are public and that anyone may buy a noncertified (informational only) death record. What turns on eligibility is the certified certificate: whether you order it with cause of death information or without it, you must be an eligible requester under Minnesota Statutes 144.225. Separately, for a death a medical examiner or coroner investigated, there is a fully public route. Under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 2, the cause of death, the causes of the cause of death, the manner of death, and whether an autopsy was performed are public data that anyone may request from that office.

The practical distinction in Minnesota is between a plain paper informational copy and a certified certificate. Noncertified copies are open to anyone but are for informational use only and cannot be used for legal purposes. Certified copies are issued on security paper, carry legal weight, and are limited to eligible requesters. Because the Department of Health does not publish which data fields the noncertified copy prints, confirm with the Office of Vital Records or a county office what that copy will show if the cause of death is the detail you need.

The medical examiner and coroner records are a different matter. Under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 2, the cause of death, causes of the cause of death, manner of death, and whether an autopsy was performed are public at every stage, and subdivision 4 says nothing in the investigative rules makes those elements not public at any point. The broader investigative file is confidential or protected nonpublic while an investigation is active, then becomes private or nonpublic once the final summary is complete, and under subdivision 9 it opens to the public 30 years after the date of death.

For the national overview, see Are Cause of Death Records Public?.

Where the Cause of Death Is Recorded

The cause of death is recorded in two main places in Minnesota: the death certificate and, when one exists, the medical examiner or coroner autopsy report.

The Death Certificate

Every Minnesota death certificate has a medical certification section listing the immediate cause of death, the underlying conditions that led to it, and the manner of death (natural, accident, suicide, homicide, or undetermined). Only licensed medical certifiers may complete this section. In Minnesota, certifiers include physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, physician assistants, coroners, and medical examiners.

This section is what you receive when you order the certified death certificate with cause of death information. The Department of Health also issues a certified death certificate without cause of death information for deaths from 1997 to the present, which is the version to order when the certificate is needed for a purpose that does not call for the medical detail.

The Autopsy Report

When a death is sudden, violent, unexplained, or otherwise not from natural causes, a medical examiner or coroner investigates and may perform an autopsy. The autopsy findings are filed in the medical examiner or coroner office and provide far more detail than the one-line cause on the certificate.

This report is not public. Under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 8, the nonpublic data are accessible to the decedent's surviving spouse, parents, children, and siblings, to the legal representative of the estate, and to their legal representatives, along with the physician who attended the decedent at the time of death. Under subdivision 9 the data become public 30 years after the date of death.

A reader who is not on that list does not simply have to wait out the 30 years. Under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 7, any person may petition the district court in the county where the medical examiner data is maintained to authorize disclosure of nonpublic, protected nonpublic, or confidential medical examiner data. The petitioner notifies the medical examiner or coroner, the court may bring in other interested persons, and after examining the data in camera the court may order disclosure if it determines that disclosure would be in the public interest.

How to Request Records That Show the Cause of Death

Anyone may order a noncertified (informational only) copy of a Minnesota death record. A certified death certificate, in either the version with cause of death information or the version without it, requires that you be an eligible requester under Minnesota Statutes 144.225.

You can order from the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Vital Records by mail or fax, or in person at a county vital records office, which is usually the fastest option. Noncertified copies are printed on plain paper, are for informational use only, and cannot be used for legal purposes such as settling an estate or proving identity, but they are open to any member of the public. Because the Department of Health does not state which fields that copy prints, ask before ordering if the cause of death is what you are after.

To order a certified copy, you must be an eligible requester under Minnesota law. The Department of Health's list includes the spouse named on the record, children, parents, siblings, grandparents and great-grandparents, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a personal representative or successor who needs the certificate to administer the estate, a trustee administering a trust, a person or entity that needs the certificate to determine or protect a personal or property right, an attorney for the subject or for an eligible requester, a representative of a government agency acting within its authorized duties, and a person holding a valid U.S. court order directing release. Certified-copy requesters must provide identification and sign the request form in front of a notary public or county vital records staff.

To obtain the autopsy report, an eligible family member or estate representative should contact the medical examiner or coroner office for the county where the death occurred. Anyone outside that group may ask the district court in that county to order its release under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 7.

For full eligibility, fees, and ordering details, see Minnesota Death Records.

Finding the Cause of Death for Older or Historical Deaths

For older deaths, Minnesota death records date back to 1908 at the Office of Vital Records, and pre-1908 records are held only by the county where the death occurred. Anyone may buy a noncertified copy of a historical death record. If you want the medical certification detail and you are an eligible requester, order the certified certificate with cause of death information. For a death that was investigated, the medical examiner or coroner records are another route, and they become fully public 30 years after the death.

For a medical examiner or coroner autopsy report, the 30-year rule matters. Once 30 years have passed since the date of death, that previously restricted investigative data becomes public, so older autopsy and inquest records may be available to any requester. Before those 30 years are up, any person may still petition the district court under Minnesota Statutes 13.83, subdivision 7, to have nonpublic medical examiner data released in the public interest.

The Social Security Death Index can help you confirm the fact and date of death for a deceased person, which is useful for locating the right record to order. The index does not list the cause of death, so you will still need the death certificate or the medical examiner record for that detail.

Disclaimer: This page provides general information about Minnesota records, not legal advice. Access rules, fees, and procedures can change. Always confirm the current requirements with the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Vital Records or the county medical examiner or coroner office before relying on them.

Sources

This page draws on the Minnesota Department of Health Office of Vital Records, its Death Certificate Request and Noncertified Death Record Request forms, the MDH medical-certifier guidance, and Minnesota Statutes chapters 144, 390, and 13 from the Minnesota Revisor of Statutes.