Fulton County Coroner

Austin Rhodes (D)

Emergency: (309) 547-2277

The Coroner is an elected county-wide official that serves for a four year term. The Coroner’s office is a law enforcement agency, which, as part of the system of checks and balances, investigates the cause and manner of deaths that occur in the county. The office and its duties and powers descend from ancient British common law. In Illinois the main statutes governing the office are mainly found in the Illinois Compiled Statutes Chapter 55 (The Coroners Act).

The Coroner is largely involved in public safety and serves as protector of the people.  The Coroner has the same powers as the Sheriff.  Should the Office of the Sheriff become vacant, the Coroner performs all the duties as required by law to be performed by the Sheriff, and retains those powers until another Sheriff is appointed or elected.

The Coroner investigates all deaths where the decedent was not attended by a licensed physician for whatever cause, and is responsible for determining the manner and cause of each death to decide if an inquest is necessary.  The Coroner prepares and conducts inquests.  If the circumstances concerning the death are suspicious, obscure or mysterious the Coroner will determine the need for an autopsy.

The Coroner issues Coroner’s death certificates and cremation permits and also maintains records of all deaths in the County for which an inquest is held.

The Coroner’s Office serving Fulton County is committed to providing the citizens of Fulton County the most professional death investigations falling under its jurisdiction. We perform all of our own investigations, review toxicology, perform autopsies and histology by forensic pathologists. The coroner’s office investigates or reviews nearly 450 deaths during the year.