346.71 Coroners or medical examiners to report; require blood specimen.

(1) Every coroner or medical examiner shall, on or before the 10th day of each month, report in writing any accident involving a motor vehicle occurring within the coroner's or medical examiner's jurisdiction resulting in the death of any person during the preceding calendar month. If the accident involved an all-terrain vehicle or utility terrain vehicle, the report shall be made to the department of natural resources and shall include the information specified by that department. If the accident involved an off-highway motorcycle, as defined in s. 23.335 (1) (q), operated off the highways, as defined in s. 23.335 (1) (y), the report shall be made to the department of natural resources and the department of transportation and shall include the information specified by each department. If the accident involved any other motor vehicle, the report shall be made to the department of transportation and shall include the information specified by that department. The coroner or medical examiner of the county where the death occurs, if the accident occurred in another jurisdiction, shall, immediately upon learning of the death, report it to the coroner or medical examiner of the county where the accident occurred, as provided in s. 979.01 (1).

(2) In cases of death involving a motor vehicle in which the decedent was the operator of a motor vehicle, a pedestrian 14 years of age or older or a bicycle, electric scooter, or electric personal assistive mobility device operator 14 years of age or older and who died within 6 hours of the time of the accident, the coroner or medical examiner of the county where the death occurred shall require that a blood specimen of at least 10 cc. be withdrawn from the body of the decedent within 12 hours after his or her death, by the coroner or medical examiner or by a physician so designated by the coroner or medical examiner or by a qualified person at the direction of the physician. All funeral directors shall obtain a release from the coroner or medical examiner of the county where the accident occurred as provided in s. 979.01 (4) prior to proceeding with embalming any body coming under the scope of this section. The blood so drawn shall be forwarded to a laboratory approved by the department of health services for analysis of the alcoholic content of the blood specimen. The coroner or medical examiner causing the blood to be withdrawn shall be notified of the results of each analysis made and shall forward the results of each such analysis to the department of health services. If the death involved a motor vehicle, the department shall keep a record of all such examinations to be used for statistical purposes only and the department shall disseminate and make public the cumulative results of the examinations without identifying the individuals involved. If the death involved an all-terrain vehicle, a utility terrain vehicle, or an off-highway motorcycle, as defined in s. 23.335 (1) (q), that was being operated off the highways, as defined in s. 23.335 (1) (y), the department of natural resources shall keep a record of all such examinations to be used for statistical purposes only and the department of natural resources shall disseminate and make public the cumulative results of the examinations without identifying the individuals involved.

(3) In a case of death involving a motor vehicle in which the accident and the death occur in different counties, the county where the death occurs may charge the county where the accident occurs a reasonable fee for withdrawing the blood specimen from the body of the decedent as required under sub. (2).

History: 1973 c. 272; 1977 c. 29 s. 1654 (7) (a); 1977 c. 273; 1983 a. 485; 1985 a. 29; 1987 a. 302; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 2001 a. 90; 2007 a. 20 s. 9121 (6) (a); 2011 a. 208; 2015 a. 170; 2019 a. 11.

Coroners' blood test records under sub. (2) are not confidential. Test results are presumptively accurate. Staples v. Glienke, 142 Wis. 2d 19, 416 N.W.2d 920 (Ct. App. 1987).