The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s District office serves the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding County and Federal holidays, and is located at 200 Feliks Gwozdz Place, Fort Worth, Texas 76104-4919.  Assistance is available 24 hours a day at 817-920-5700.

The District includes three other counties with their respective satellite offices:

Denton County – 535 South Loop 288, Suite 1132, Denton, TX 76205-4502
Phone: 940-349-2870; 972-434-8833. Denton County Medical Examiner  

Johnson County – 103 South Walnut Street, Cleburne, Texas 76033
Phone: 817-558-2245.
Johnson County Medical Examiner

Parker County – 215 Trinity Street, Weatherford, Texas 76086
Phone: 682-229-2115; 682-229-2120

No.  The Medical Examiner’s Office does not have facilities to view bodies.  You should make viewing arrangements with the funeral home or crematory handling final disposition of the remains.

If identification of a decedent is required, a Medical Examiner’s Office representative will contact the next-of-kin to discuss appropriate identification methods and obtain pertinent information.  If your loved one is missing, it is recommended to contact the police department to file a missing person report.

Bodies brought to the Medical Examiner’s Office are generally ready for release to a funeral home or crematorium within 24 hours, although rarely, a body is held longer for legal purposes.  Additionally, upon non-binding request, the remains may be released in the shortest possible time to honor religious, cultural or other family beliefs.

Once the examination is complete and the closest legal next-of-kin has designated a funeral home or cremation service, the body will be released to the mortuary or crematorium as specified upon receipt of a valid body release form.  Family members should notify the funeral director to call the Medical Examiner’s Office for release of the body, or may contact the office at 817-920-5700 to provide information regarding the funeral home selected.

According to state law, only the nearest legal next-of-kin may sign the body release form.  The next-of-kin in the order of legal priority are:

1. spouse
2. adult son or daughter
3. parent
   
4. adult sibling

If the next-of-kin is out of town, he or she may fax a completed Body Release Form to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office at 817-920-5713.  

Any item identified as evidence will be either retained for further examination or released to the appropriate investigating law enforcement agency.  For questions regarding these items, please contact the Medical Examiner’s Office.

All other clothing and personal items in the custody of the Medical Examiner’s Office will be released to either the closest legal next-of-kin or with the body to the funeral home or crematory.   Pursuant to state law, all property unclaimed for three years or longer is forwarded to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, where it is held pending claim in accordance with statutes and policies governing that agency.  For a search of all property in the current custody of the state comptroller’s office, please go to: TX Comptroller Unclaimed Property

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office commonly produces three reports:

1. Death investigation report.
2. Physician examination report (with or without diagrams).
3. Toxicology report.

Depending upon the complexity of a case, there may be many other reports including bacterial/viral cultures, special chemistry, heavy metal and other poison panels, anthropology, human identification, criminalistics, etc.

Chapter §552 of the Texas Government Code addresses the topic of open government and public information in Texas, and sets forth the requirements that allow citizens access to information on action taken by governmental bodies.  Section §552.021 allows public dissemination of information that is written, produced, collected, assembled or maintained under a law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business.  Under the public records statute, all written records generated by the medical examiner in the performance of his duties are public records and may be released upon request to any citizen.

The Texas Health and Safety Code, Sec. §671.012 requires that a physician who performs an autopsy provided for by state law shall file an autopsy report not later than the 30th day after the date of autopsy unless a required test cannot be completed within that time.  Depending upon the complexity of a case and the number of postmortem tests ordered, an examination report may take up to 12 weeks or longer before being completed.

All Examination Reports (with the exception of X-Rays and photographs) are subject to required public disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552, Texas Government Code.

To obtain a free, non-certified copy of the examination report send the following form Examination Report Request Form in one of the following manners:

1.  Mail the request form (above) to:

    Records Custodian
    Tarrant County Medical Examiner
    200 Feliks Gwozdz Place
    Fort Worth, TX  76104-4919

2.  Send request via e-mail to tcmerecords@tarrantcounty.com

NOTE:  Reports sent via email are unsigned copies

3.  Fax the request form (above) to 817-920-5713, attention: Records Custodian

To obtain a certified copy of the Examination Report contact the Records Custodian at: 817-920-5700, Ext. 8679 or 8336

or via email tcmerecords@tarrantcounty.com
 
Check the current fee schedule for costs associated with copies of the examination report, photographs, and other items.

Yes.  Scene photographs and/or postmortem examination photographs may be released upon presentation of a legal ‘next-of-kin’ letter, which must contain all of the following elements to be considered valid:

1. The decedent’s full name and date of death;
2. The next-of-kin's full name, address and contact information;
3. A statement indicating the requestor is the nearest legal next-of-kin and providing his/her relationship to the decedent;
4. The specific information the requestor is seeking (e.g., all autopsy photographs);
5. The address the photos should be mailed to;
6. The requestor's notarized signature affixed to the same letter.  All of the above, along with the notary signature, stamp and date signed, must be attached to one page;
7. A copy of the requestor's driver license.

Please mail in the original notarized letter (copies will not be accepted), along with a check to complete your request.

Checks should be made payable to: Tarrant Co. Medical Examiner's Office.  Tax ID# is 756001170.  The request and check can be mailed to:

Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office
Attn:  Lisa Garcia Nunez
200 Feliks Gwozdz Place
Fort Worth, TX 76104-4919

Once the letter and payment have been received, the request will be processed upon its completion.

Non-family members can make a request for the scene and autopsy photographs upon presentation of a properly executed and notarized letter from the legal next-of-kin.  All requests received from either family or non-family members will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

For costs associated with reproducing the photographic materials, please see our current fee schedule.  Payment must be made via an enclosed cashier’s check, money order or firm check (if attorney), made payable to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office, as listed above.   

For further questions, please contact the Records Custodian at 817-920-5700, extension 8336.

Effective 2007, the Texas Health and Safety Code, Section §193.005, requires that medical certifiers of a death certificate submit the medical certification and attest to its validity using an electronic process approved by the State Registrar (Texas Electronic Registrar).

Also, Section §193.003 requires the medical examiner to complete the medical certification no later than five days after receiving the death certificate.  In a large number of cases, the exact cause of death may be pending laboratory testing or investigation.  In those cases, the medical examiner will file a “pending” death certificate, which is later amended upon completion of all necessary laboratory testing or investigation.

Certified copies of a death certificate may be obtained through the funeral home or crematorium that handled the decedent’s final arrangements, a local vital statistics registrar or directly from the Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics.

The Texas Health and Human Code, Section §716.004, requires that a crematory establishment may not cremate human remains within 48 hours of the time of death indicated on a death certificate unless the waiting period is waived in writing by the medical examiner of the county in which the death occurred or by a court order.   In compliance with the statute, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office has established a written policy that outlines the process of making a request for a waiver during regular business hours and outside of regular business hours, including on weekends and holidays.

In all other cases, after the mandatory waiting period, the cremation can be performed. However, the crematory is required to obtain a cremation permit from the Medical Examiner’s Office.  If the death was not a medical examiner’s case, the Medical Examiner’s Office requires the funeral director to provide a copy of the death certificate signed by a physician before a cremation permit issues.

The Texas Medical Board is responsible for investigating complaints regarding physicians and may be contacted by one of the following methods:

Texas Medical Board
Investigations Department, MC263
P.O. Box 2018
Austin, TX 78768-2018

Website: Texas Medical Board - Place a Complaint

Phone: 1-800-201-9353

If you have a complaint about our physician staff, please feel free to contact our Administrative Director at 817-920-5700 extension 8330. 

Fees for Medical Examiner and Forensic Laboratory services are established by the Tarrant County Commissioner's Court.

Fees are payable by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa.

• Credit card payments may only be accepted at 866-549-1010, Bureau Number 3144964
  
• A three percent convenience fee ($1 minimum) will be added to invoice amount
• An invoice number is required when making payment