The results showed that most of the population is served by death investigations that are organized on a local or district level but often administered by a nonmedical government agency. Certain types of death are mentioned more often in State statutes (suspicious or unnatural, suicide, violence, sudden or unexplained, unattended by doctor, accidental, and homicide) while others are inconsistently investigated (if body to be cremated, for workmen's compensation, during surgical procedures, stillbirth, trauma, shortly after hospitalization, or motor vehicle accident). While more jurisdictions have a coroner instead of elected medical examiner, the majority of the population is served by a medical examiner. About 25 percent of the population is served by an examiner who is not required to have a medical background or experience in death investigations. Researchers recommend that all States adopt policies and minimum standards for death investigators and that State statutes address the types of death that are currently inconsistently investigated. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 3 references