AGENCY: District Court (Third District : Salt Lake County)

SERIES: 3851
TITLE: Coroners' inquest case files
DATES: 1870-1871; 1886-1937.
ARRANGEMENT:

DESCRIPTION: Inquests, or hearings, were to be held on the bodies of persons who were supposed to have died by unlawful means to determine the cause of death and whether or not it was felonious. In practice, this also included inquests on those individuals whose deaths may have been natural, but where the cause was not certain. These files contain the results of those inquests from various precincts around the county, including the communities of Salt Lake City, Bingham, Magna, and Murray.

The inquests were conducted by a county coroner or justice of the peace until statehood in 1896. Thereafter there was no coroner and justices of the peace alone continued to conduct inquests. A copy of the papers were forwarded to the county probate court until 1896 and thereafter to the district court for safekeeping. The duties of justices acting as coroner remained in effect with little variation from enactment in 1868 to their repeal in 1965. The files may include a copy of the verdict or determination of cause of death, any subpoena of witnesses, a venire (warrant to the sherriff to summon jurors), and by about 1915 a transcript of the hearing with occasional related exhibits.

RETENTION

DISPOSITION

RETENTION AND DISPOSITION AUTHORIZATION

These records are in Archives' permanent custody.

FORMAT MANAGEMENT

Paper: Retain in State Records Center until microfilmed and then destroy provided microfilm has passed inspection.

Microfilm master: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.

Microfilm duplicate: Retain in State Archives permanently with authority to weed.

APPRAISAL

Historical

These cases document functions of Utah coroners and justices of the peace. They also provide intensive information on individuals' deaths and sometimes crimes and accidents, information not available elsewhere.

PRIMARY DESIGNATION

Public

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