Are Autopsy Reports Public Records in Florida?

Yes, autopsy reports are generally public records in Florida, and once the medical examiner has completed one, anyone can request a copy. The important caveats: reports on suicide deaths, reports on minors who died from domestic violence, and all autopsy photographs and recordings are confidential by statute, and any report tied to an active criminal investigation can be withheld until the investigation closes.

The Default Rule Is Access

Florida’s public records law is among the broadest in the country. Under Florida Statute 119.07, any person who has custody of a public record must let anyone inspect and copy it at any reasonable time.¹ Medical examiner offices are government agencies, so their completed autopsy reports fall under that mandate. You don’t need to explain why you want the record, and the burden sits with the government to justify withholding it.

The exceptions, though, cover more deaths than most people assume.

When an Autopsy Report Is Confidential

Florida Statute 406.135 locks down two categories of written autopsy report, and it treats autopsy imagery differently from the report itself.

Suicide Deaths

If the medical examiner ruled the manner of death a suicide, the full autopsy report is confidential. Access runs down a family hierarchy: first the surviving spouse; if there is no spouse, the deceased’s parents; if neither survives, adult children and siblings.² An eligible family member can designate someone else in writing to obtain the report on their behalf.

Anyone outside that circle needs a court order. A judge can authorize release after a showing of good cause and may impose restrictions on how the report is used. The family member next in line must receive reasonable notice of the petition and a chance to be heard before the judge rules.³

Minors Who Died From Domestic Violence

When a child under 18 dies in connection with domestic violence, the autopsy report is confidential. A surviving parent can view and copy it, but only if that parent was not the one who committed the violence that caused the death.² Anyone else needs a court order.

Photographs, Video, and Audio From Any Autopsy

People often conflate the written report with the images and recordings created during the autopsy. Under Florida law they are separate records. Autopsy photographs, video, and audio recordings are confidential in every case, no matter how the person died. A surviving spouse may view or copy them; if no spouse survives, access passes to the parents, and then to adult children.² Everyone else needs a court order. So the written report for a traffic fatality, for example, is a public record; the autopsy photographs from the same case are not.

Active Criminal Investigations

Florida’s general public records law exempts active criminal intelligence and active criminal investigative information from disclosure. If an autopsy report contains information tied to an ongoing investigation, the medical examiner’s office can withhold it under this exemption. When the investigation closes, the exemption lifts and the report becomes available under the normal rules. The same statute protects information that would reveal the identity of a child abuse victim or the victim of a sexual offense, so any part of a report exposing such a victim’s identity stays confidential as well.⁴

Government Agencies

Local, state, and federal agencies acting in their official capacity can still obtain confidential autopsy reports through a written request, whether the death was a suicide or involved a minor domestic violence victim. Unless their duties specifically require it, the identity of the deceased must remain confidential in that context.³

How to Request a Report

Florida is divided into 25 medical examiner districts, each covering one or more counties.⁵ Send your request to the district where the death occurred or where the body was found. Most offices accept requests by mail, email, or online form, and most list the counties they cover on their websites.

Include the deceased’s full name, approximate date of death, and the county where the death took place. The more identifying detail you provide, the faster the office can locate the file.

Fees

Florida’s public records law sets default copying charges: up to 15 cents per one-sided page for standard copies, an additional 5 cents for two-sided copies, and up to $1 per page for certified copies.⁶ Offices may also charge for extensive clerical time spent searching for or retrieving records. Ask the specific district for its current fee schedule before you file.

How Long It Takes

Autopsy reports are not available right away. Complex cases that require toxicology or other laboratory work can take 90 days or longer to finalize, and until the medical examiner signs the report there is nothing to release. If you need the record for an insurance claim or legal proceeding, plan around that delay.

What You’ll Get

A completed autopsy report documents the full postmortem examination. It opens with identifying information about the deceased (name, age, date and time of death) and a narrative summary of the circumstances. It then covers external findings, internal findings from the organ examination, microscopic results from any tissue samples, and toxicology results showing drugs, alcohol, or other substances present at the time of death.

The report closes with the medical examiner’s determination of the cause of death (the specific injury or disease) and the manner of death, classified as natural, accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined. That combined medical and legal record is why autopsy reports carry weight in court cases, insurance claims, and estate matters.