Are Autopsy Reports Public in New Jersey? (2026 Guide)

New Jersey autopsy and toxicology reports are not fully public records, but they are not sealed either. The medical examiner regulations guarantee access to the next of kin and other parties with a "proper interest," such as immediate family, the decedent's physician, legal representatives, and insurers in related litigation. The report itself is also a government record that can be requested under the Open Public Records Act, subject to other exemptions. While a case is referred to a prosecutor for criminal investigation, only that prosecutor or the Attorney General may release the findings.

Are Autopsy Reports Public in New Jersey?

New Jersey autopsy reports are not freely public the way many people assume, but they are not categorically closed either. They are government records. The medical examiner regulations guarantee access to people and entities with a recognized "proper interest" in the report, and the Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.) provides a separate route that is open to anyone.

Under New Jersey's medical examiner regulations, autopsy and toxicology reports can be inspected and copied by qualified requesters during business hours. Records or portions of records that contain opinions, subjective evaluations, or critical analyses are withheld. Autopsy photographs, negatives, and videotapes are separately excluded from the definition of a government record by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.

The biggest restriction is timing. If a death has been referred to a county prosecutor or the Attorney General for a continuing criminal investigation, only that office may release the autopsy findings, usually through the court discovery process.

Autopsy Reports Under OPRA

For years the Government Records Council treated autopsy reports as exempt criminal investigatory records. It reversed that position in Schulz v. New Jersey State Police, GRC Complaint No. 2014-390, and applied the reversal again in Costigan v. Cape May County Prosecutor's Office, GRC Complaint No. 2017-184 (final decision November 12, 2019).

The Council's reasoning is that an autopsy report is required by law to be created, so it fails the first prong of OPRA's two-part criminal investigatory records test. On that basis it held that autopsy reports "generally are not exempt as criminal investigatory records" and ordered the report disclosed to the requester.

Two limits matter. The Council expressly declined to hold that autopsy reports must be disclosed in their entirety, because other exemptions may still cover parts of a given report. And the photograph exclusion above is absolute against the general public, opening only for the legal next of kin, a legal representative, an attending physician, a court, or law enforcement.

For the broader rules across states, see Are Autopsies Public Records?.

Who Performs Autopsies in New Jersey?

New Jersey uses a medical examiner system, not a coroner system. Each county maintains an office of county medical examiner, and some counties operate jointly. The system is supervised statewide by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner (OCSME) within the Department of Health.

The governing law is the Revised State Medical Examiner Act, N.J.S.A. 26:6B-1 et seq., enacted as P.L.2018, c.62. Investigation criteria are at N.J.S.A. 26:6B-10, and the records and access rule is at N.J.S.A. 26:6B-17. That act abolished the former Office of the State Medical Examiner in the Department of Law and Public Safety and transferred its functions to the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in the Department of Health. The Chief State Medical Examiner has general supervision over all county medical examiners.

A medical examiner does not autopsy every death. Investigations cover deaths that are violent, sudden, unexpected, suspicious, or that pose a public-health threat.

When an Autopsy Is Performed

An autopsy is required in cases such as apparent homicides, deaths under unusual or suspicious circumstances, deaths posing a public-health threat, deaths of inmates, and suspected child abuse or neglect.

An autopsy is also performed when the county medical examiner, the State Medical Examiner, a Superior Court assignment judge, the county prosecutor, or the Attorney General determines one is necessary. Sudden, unexpected child deaths receive special handling.

Who Can Request a New Jersey Autopsy Report?

Access is limited to people with a recognized proper interest in the record. The general public cannot simply pull a stranger's autopsy report.

Parties presumed to have a proper interest include the next of kin of the decedent, immediate family members, the physician who treated the decedent for the final illness or injury, the decedent's legal representative, and law enforcement agencies.

Attorneys and insurance companies representing parties in litigation arising from the death that caused the incident are also recognized. If you want the report sent to a third party, such as your attorney or insurer, your signature on the request typically must be notarized.

How to Get an Autopsy or Toxicology Report in New Jersey

You request the report from the medical examiner office that handled the death, either the regional OCSME office or the county medical examiner, using their autopsy-report request form.

For the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, both family and public requests run through its Government Records Request (OPRA) form, which can be filed online or on paper. Mail goes to PO Box 182, Trenton, NJ 08625-0360, and the office is at 120 South Stockton Street, 3rd Floor, Trenton. N.J.A.C. 8:70-3.2 sets a $10.00 minimum fee for an autopsy report regardless of page count, and some offices waive the fee for next of kin as a courtesy.

Provide the decedent's full name, date of death, and your relationship to the decedent, along with identification. Processing times vary because a final report depends on toxicology and other lab results, which can take weeks or months.

The Pending-Investigation Hold

The most important limit is the open-case rule. If the death has been referred to a county prosecutor or the Attorney General for continuing criminal investigation, only that office may disclose the autopsy findings.

In those cases the report is released through discovery or when the prosecutor deems it appropriate, not through a routine records request. Incomplete records and ongoing investigations are also withheld until finalized.

Autopsy Report vs Death Certificate in New Jersey

These are two different documents with different access rules. The death certificate is the official vital record that lists the legal cause and manner of death in a short, standardized format.

The autopsy report is the detailed medical examiner narrative of the examination, including findings and toxicology. The death certificate is obtained through vital records channels, while the autopsy report comes from the medical examiner under the proper-interest rules above.

To order the certificate itself, start at our New Jersey Death Records page.

Disclaimer: This page is general information, not legal advice. Access rules, forms, and fees change and vary by county office. Confirm current procedures with the New Jersey Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner or the county medical examiner before relying on this information.

Sources

This page draws on the CDC Public Health Law Program, the Revised State Medical Examiner Act (N.J.S.A. 26:6B-1 et seq.), New Jersey medical examiner regulations (N.J.A.C. 8:70-3.1 and 8:70-3.2), New Jersey Government Records Council decisions on the disclosability of autopsy reports, and the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner.

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