The Dane County Medical Examiner's Office is responsible for conducting medicolegal death investigations. The office is comprised of 3 full time forensic pathologists that include the Chief Medical Examiner, the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, and a Deputy Medical Examiner. Occasionally, the office may employ additional Locum Tenens pathologists. Assisting the pathologists are two full time as well as part time morgue technicians.
The administrative staff consists of a Director of Operations and a Deputy Director of Operations, an Administrative Assistant and a Clerk Typist-II.
The initial investigation is the responsibility of the medicolegal investigator. Currently there is a Chief of Investigations who oversees a Lead Investigator and other investigative staff. There are 8 full-time investigators and 5 part-time (LTE) investigators that respond throughout Dane County. The medicolegal investigators work closely with the forensic pathologists on all cases.
Our office evaluates an average of 5-10 cases per day. All cases are investigated but not all are autopsied. Decisions to autopsy are based on all of the pertinent information surrounding the case and gathered by the medicolegal investigator. For the majority of cases, this entire process will be completed in one to two days. Autopsy cases and some of the more difficult cases can take much longer.
Recruitment for the Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office is conducted through Employee Relations. Please click on this link for details and current openings.
