Peoria County Coroner: Records, Permits, and Inquests

The Peoria County Coroner’s Office investigates deaths in Peoria County, Illinois where the cause or manner isn’t immediately clear, issues temporary and permanent death certificates, authorizes cremations, and releases autopsy and toxicology reports on request. The office handles roughly 3,700 death investigations a year and operates independently from law enforcement.¹ Jamie Harwood, MSN, RN, has served as coroner since 2016.²

Office Location and Hours

The coroner’s office is at 2116 N Sheridan Rd, Suite B, Peoria, IL 61604. The main phone line is 309-669-2000. Administrative business, including record requests and cremation permits, runs Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.³ Investigators respond to death scenes outside business hours, but paperwork waits until the office reopens.

When the Coroner Takes a Case

Illinois law requires the coroner to take jurisdiction over a body in specific situations. Under 55 ILCS 5/3-3013, that includes deaths suspected to be:

Sudden or violent, including suicides, homicides, and accidents involving trauma, drowning, suffocation, chemical exposure, or domestic violence
Related to a sex crime
Suspicious, obscure, mysterious, or otherwise unexplained, including cases where the attending physician can’t determine the cause
Connected to alcohol or drug addiction
Unattended by a licensed physician

Once the coroner has jurisdiction, the body cannot be moved without the coroner’s consent, which is why hospitals and funeral homes have to wait for clearance before transferring the deceased.⁴

Autopsies happen at the coroner’s discretion when the cause of death isn’t otherwise clear, and are required by statute when the circumstances are suspicious or unexplained. When a child dies under suspicious or unexplained circumstances, a pathologist must be called in. Autopsy and lab costs come out of the county’s general fund.⁴ Toxicology testing of blood and urine is standard. In motor vehicle fatalities, blood and urine collection is mandatory for the driver and for any pedestrian age 16 or older.

Organ and tissue donation can still move forward in coroner’s cases. The office coordinates with Gift of Hope Organ & Tissue Donor Network, the federally designated recovery organization for northern Illinois.²

Death Certificates: Which Office to Call

Two different offices handle two different documents, and families routinely contact the wrong one.

The coroner issues the death certificate itself. If the investigation is still open, you’ll get a temporary certificate with the cause and manner of death listed as “pending investigation.” When the investigation closes, a permanent certificate is issued with the final determinations.⁵ If the death isn’t a coroner’s case, the deceased’s primary care physician signs the certificate instead.

Certified copies, which is what insurance companies, probate courts, banks, and title companies will ask for, come from the Peoria County Clerk’s Office, not from the coroner. The clerk charges $24 for the first certified copy and $13 for each additional copy, and accepts cash, debit and credit cards (with a transaction fee), personal checks, money orders, and cashier’s checks.⁶

Requesting Autopsy, Toxicology, and Investigation Records

Reports produced by the coroner’s investigation are a separate request. Fees are set by Illinois statute:⁷

Autopsy report: $50
Toxicology report: $25
Miscellaneous reports, including coroner’s case reports: actual cost or $25, whichever is greater
Cremation permit: $100, which the coroner may waive for indigent families
Coroner’s jury verdict: $5
Sworn testimony transcript: $5 per page, or $15 for a full transcript if the inquest is at least 20 years old and the request is for research or genealogy
Investigation photographs: actual cost or $3, whichever is greater

To request records, you’ll generally need the full legal name of the deceased and the date of death. Requests can be made in person at the office or by mail. Processing runs from a few days to several weeks depending on case complexity and whether the investigation is still open.

Cremation Permits and Body Release

No cremation can take place in Illinois without a signed permit from the coroner. Funeral directors submit the death certificate information through the coroner’s online system, pay the $100 fee, and the office processes the permit within one business day of receiving payment. Submissions after 4:00 p.m. roll to the next business day. The death certificate has to be marked complete before the coroner will sign.⁸⁷

There is no fixed timeline for releasing a body after an investigation. The coroner holds the deceased until all necessary studies are complete. Straightforward cases may release within a day or two. Cases requiring toxicology, DNA, or anthropological work can take considerably longer. Your funeral director usually has the most current information, since they communicate directly with the office.

Coroner’s Inquests

An inquest is a public hearing where a jury of six to eight citizens reviews evidence about a death and determines the manner. It is not a criminal trial and does not assign guilt. The jury returns a verdict of natural, accident, suicide, homicide, reckless homicide, or undetermined, and that verdict becomes part of the public record.⁴ Most of the office’s cases are closed through its own investigation without an inquest being called.

Unclaimed Remains

When no one comes forward to claim a body after an inquest, the coroner is required to arrange a decent burial, cremation, or donation to medical science. Costs come first from any property the deceased left; if that doesn’t cover them, the county does. The coroner cannot approve cremation or donation if the body is needed for a law enforcement investigation. The same statute covers abandoned cremated remains recovered by police and unclaimed remains delivered by the State Treasurer, both of which go to the coroner for disposition.⁹

1
Illinois Secretary of State. Illinois Regional Archives Depository System – Coroner
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Peoria County, IL. Meet Coroner Jamie Harwood
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Peoria County, IL. Peoria County Coroner – About
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Illinois General Assembly. 55 ILCS 5/3-3013 – Preliminary Investigations; Blood and Urine Analysis; Summoning Jury; Reports
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Peoria County, IL. Death Certificates
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Peoria County, IL. Peoria County Clerk – Death Records
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Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 55 ILCS 5/4-7001 – Coroner’s Fees
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Peoria County, IL. Funeral Homes
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Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 55 ILCS 5/3-3034 – Disposition of Body