Medical Examiner

Job Title

Medical Examiner 1 )

Every day, Montana Department of Justice employees are dedicated to ensuring the well‑being and rights of the people of our great state. The Department of Justice does the right thing for the right reason. If you are looking for an opportunity to be part of a team that builds a culture of character and excellence, demonstrates collaboration and self‑less public service, and upholds the law while pursuing public safety, the Department of Justice may have a career for you.

The main role of the Montana Medical Examiner’s Office, a section in the Montana Department of Justice’s Forensic Science Division, is to support the county coroners in the state of Montana with autopsies, consultation, and education. While each of the 56 Montana county coroner’s offices are the primary agency responsible for death investigation in their respective county, handling all scene investigation and direct communication regarding the death with families, law enforcement, and other interested parties, the medical examiners can assume jurisdiction on any death if necessary.

The Forensic Science Division and Montana Medical Examiner’s office provide support for the entire state through two locations:
Missoula, MT (main office) and Billings, MT (satellite office). When fully staffed, the medical examiner’s office has one chief medical examiner (located in Billings) and three deputy medical examiners (two in Missoula and one in Billings).

Salary: $291,325 annually

• Comp time earned, which can be used as vacation time, accrued at a rate of one hour per night of call (around 180 additional hours each year), and one hour for each hour worked over 40 hours per week, which, in general, allows for flexibility of day‑to‑day scheduling.
• Relocation expense of $5,000 to $10,000.
• Supplemental salary for work performed at the Billings office if necessary, and for performance of contracted hospital autopsies (around 0‑4 per year).
• State of Montana benefits including paid vacation, sick leave, holidays, health, dental, and vision insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, and choice of two retirement plans (defined benefit or defined contribution).
• Other benefits: reimbursement of licensure and continuing educational requirements, including one paid conference per year, and qualification for student loan forgiveness.

The Deputy Medical Examiner will perform less than the National Association of Medical Examiners allowed number of autopsies per year (for reference, in 2024, the Chief Medical Examiner performed 299 autopsies, and the three Deputy Medical Examiners averaged 180 autopsies each; caseloads can fluctuate). With rare exceptions at the discretion of the pathologist, autopsies are not performed on weekends or holidays.

In addition to autopsies, the Deputy Medical Examiner will provide consultation and education to the coroners, assist with continued accreditation efforts as necessary, and present autopsy findings in court, both criminal court and coroner inquests. Assisting the medical examiners are four experienced autopsy assistants and an ABMDI certified coroner liaison who handles daily communication with the coroners and assists with their education.

The office recently implemented MDILog for a shared death investigation case‑management system with the coroners.

• A medical degree from an accredited school and a license to practice medicine in Montana.
• Board certification in Anatomic and Forensic Pathology, or acquisition of board certification within two years of hire, and with maintenance of certification.
• Additional certification or training in a relevant sub‑specialty of pathology (neuropathology, pediatric pathology, or cardiac pathology), or a related forensic field (anthropology) is desirable but not necessary.

As with all forensic pathology offices, the Deputy Medical Examiner will be exposed to infectious agents, physical dangers (needles and scalpels), emotional circumstances, handling of bodies weighing 300‑400+ lbs., and the need to balance a changing work environment…