(a) The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is hereby authorized to charge the following fees to any persons or government agencies, including departments or agencies of the City and County of San Francisco, that request or require such documents or services:
Proof of death letter |
$10 |
Statement of non-contagion |
10 |
Certified copy of Medical Examiner’s report |
47 |
Disaster bag |
67 |
Copies of X-rays, per film |
33 |
Re-cut microscopic slides, per slide |
33 |
Storage of remains, per day |
77 |
Removal of remains from place of death to OCME facility, Medical Examiner’s cases |
632 |
Cremation of remains by request with approval of OCME |
1,196 |
Certified forensic toxicology report |
16 |
Certified supporting documentation for results of forensic toxicology report, per page |
1 |
Packaging and delivery of subpoenaed records to court |
23 |
Specimen storage, per month |
38 |
Expert testimony or consultation by OCME toxicologist (non-Ph.D.), per hour |
386/hour* * |
Expert testimony or consultation by OCME toxicologist (Ph.D.), per hour |
548** |
Expert testimony or consultation by OCME forensic pathologist, per hour |
800** |
Expert testimony or consultation by OCME investigator, per hour |
386** |
Drug screening in blood or urine by GC/MS (gas chromatography with mass spectrometry) |
1,644 |
Drug confirmation in urine, per drug |
411 |
Drug confirmation and quantitation in blood, per drug |
411 |
Drug screening in gastric contents or tissue by GC/MS |
2,056 |
Drug confirmation in gastric contents or tissue, per drug |
548 |
Date rape drug screening in urine |
1,644 |
Date rape drug confirmation in urine, per drug |
411 |
Drug screening and confirmation in hair, per hair specimen |
5,481 |
Decedent’s property mailing fee |
55 |
Histology service, including embedding, cutting, routine H & E staining and coverslipping, per 4 cassettes |
164 |
Forensic alcohol analysis, per case |
100 |
Drug screening and confirmation in nails, per nail specimen |
1,566 |
Preparation of specimen for shipment or release |
75 |
Postmortem Comprehensive Drug Analysis |
360 |
Postmortem Comprehensive Expanded Drug Analysis |
525 |
Postmortem Comprehensive Drug and Alcohol Analysis |
400 |
Postmortem Comprehensive Expanded Drug and Alcohol Analysis |
525 |
Postmortem Carbon Monoxide Analysis |
95 |
Postmortem Biochemistry (Electrolytes) Analysis |
95 |
** Travel and accommodation charges will be the responsibility of the requesting party.
Except as otherwise provided by law, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is authorized to charge a fee on a time-and-materials basis to issue documents or perform services other than those specified above. The fee charged shall not exceed the actual cost that the OCME incurs in providing the document or service to the requesting party.
(b) All cases brought into the Medical Examiner’s Office facility shall be billed for transportation, personnel handling, and storage costs, except for the following categories of cases:
(1) Decedents under 14 years of age;
(2) Homicides;
(3) In custody or police-involved cases;
(4) Indigents (County disposition);
(5) Cases in which private charitable funds available to pay funeral costs would thereby be reduced so as to preclude payment;
(6) Cases specifically exempted by the Chief Medical Examiner or his or her designee.
(c) Beginning with fiscal year 2003-2004, fees set in this Section 8.14 may be adjusted each year, without further action by the Board of Supervisors, to reflect changes in the relevant Consumer Price Index, as determined by the Controller.
No later than April 15 of each year, the Medical Examiner’s Office shall submit its current fee schedule to the Controller, who shall apply the price index adjustment to produce a new fee schedule for the following year. The adjusted rates shall become operative on July 1.
(d) All fees received for documents and services mentioned in this Section 8.14 shall be deposited with the Treasurer and shall be used to defray the costs incurred by the Medical Examiner in issuing such documents or providing such services.
(Amended by Ord. 231-82, App. 5/13/82; Ord. 120-87, App. 4/17/87; Ord. 222-92, App. 7/14/92; Ord. 169-95, App. 5/26/95; Ord. 384-96, App. 10/16/96; Ord. 156-02, File No. 021080, App. 7/12/2002; Ord. 163-04, File No. 040750, App. 7/22/2004; Ord. 177-05, File No. 050984, App. 7/29/2005; Ord. 182-07, File No. 070808, App. 8/3/2007; Ord. 167-09, File No. 090721, App. 7/21/2009; Ord. 168-13; File No. 130543, App. 8/2/2013, Eff. 9/1/2013; Ord. 45-17, File No. 161316, App. 2/24/2017, Eff. 3/26/2017; Ord. 175-20, File No. 200839, App. 10/1/2020, Eff. 11/1/2020)
(Added by Ord. 182-09, File No. 090837, 7/27/2009; repealed by Ord. 131-18, File No. 180132, App. 6/14/2018, Eff. 7/15/2018, Retro. 7/1/2018)