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CORONER'S OFFICE
Mission:
The mission of the Darlington County Coroner’s Office is to provide the citizens of our county with the best possible death investigation available, in order to determine the manner and cause of death surrounding the circumstances. The Coroner's Office ensures all aspects of our investigation is understood and explained in a professional and compassionate manner. It is also the responsibility of this office to educate the citizens of our county in an effort to decrease and prevent deaths.
Currently, the office consists of both a Coroner and a Deputy Coroner.
Responsibilities:
- Performs independent investigations into traumatic, sudden/unexpected, suspicious, and unattended deaths.
- Makes notifications to families.
- Makes positive identifications of the deceased.
- Creates reports related to all deaths investigated by the Office.
- Issues burial transit permits for individuals who have died outside of a hospital.
- Makes the final determination as to manner and cause of death.
- Handles the release of personal effects to next of kin.
- Acts as the central repository for all records relative to a death.
- Maintains the County Coroner’s Book of Inquisitions.
- Conducts inquests.
- Issues cremation permits pursuant to Section 17-5-600 of the S.C. Code of Laws as amended
The main task of the Coroner's office is to determine both the medical and legal causes for deaths in Darlington County especially if the death occurred suddenly, suspiciously or for no apparent reason. The Coroner is a County official who is elected to serve a four-year term.
If you need to report a death, call 9-1-1 immediately and answer all questions the 9-1-1 telecommunicator asks. 9-1-1 will then contact the coroner on-call to respond to the reported death.