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Lincoln County medical examiner reports expanded scene response, new policies and staffing needs
Summary
Medical Examiner Dr. Jerry Robbins and Chief Medical Legal Death Investigator Cassandra Mumford told the board the office has increased scene attendance, written policies and is seeking more full‑time investigator support after a year of expanded operations.
NEWPORT, Ore. — The Lincoln County Medical Examiner’s Office told the Board of Commissioners on June 18 that it has broadened scene response, added policies and requested additional investigator staffing after a year of expanded work handling deaths across the county.
Dr. Jerry Robbins, Lincoln County Medical Examiner, and Cassandra Mumford, chief medical legal death investigator, gave a detailed account of the office’s responsibilities and case numbers, citing Oregon statute as the legal framework for county medical examiner duties.
“We are here to introduce ourselves, to introduce you briefly to what we do, how we do it, and what we've accomplished this past year,” Robbins told the board, describing the office’s role: “The medical examiner's office investigates deaths, unattended deaths, sudden violent, unexpected, suspicious deaths that occur in our county. It's my job ultimately to certify deaths.”
Mumford described the investigators’ work at death scenes and with families and forensic partners. She reported 262 deaths were reported to the office in the stated time frame; staff released about 150 death certificates to primary care providers after review, certified 95 county-level cases, and transported 17 cases to the state medical examiner’s office. The office attended 91 scenes during the reporting period.
“Medical legal death investigators ... are trained in death investigations, both on the medical and legal side,” Mumford said. She described investigators as the “eyes and the ears for the forensic pathologists at the state medical examiner's office.”
The staff listed accomplishments including procurement of a work truck to carry equipment and to handle scene transport, seven written policies and procedures, onboarded fingerprinting identification via the FBI for unidentified decedents, a death-certificate user guide for signing physicians and a training manual for investigators. Mumford said use of the truck helps avoid a previously reported family transport cost of about $500 by enabling county transport directly to the state medical examiner when needed.
Mumford told the board she had been approved for an additional full-time investigator but said that more staffing would be needed to handle on-call work, allow the chief investigator to pursue projects and ensure sustainable coverage: “I sometimes work 12 to 14 hours a day ... having help with the death investigation so I can concentrate on all the meetings I go to and all the projects I do ... that's what I need.”
Robbins and Mumford described the jurisdictional framework the office uses — including ORS 146.09, which the staff cited as governing which deaths require medical examiner investigation — and the working relationship with the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsies, toxicology and case reviews.
Commissioners thanked the team for the work and asked about next steps; Mumford asked the board for continued support for staffing and resources to sustain the expanded response model and community services.
Ending: The office’s presentation documents a rapid increase in workload and a shift toward proactive scene response and policies. County leaders acknowledged the need for additional staffing and said they would remain engaged as the office implements its new procedures.
