A Forensic Investigator is a medicolegal death investigator who conducts death investigations on behalf of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). Duties include, but are not limited to: responding to the scene of death, conducting interviews, taking photographs, writing reports, and when necessary arranging for transport of the body. A forensic investigator is expected to work under hazardous conditions that may result in injury. Potential exposures include, but are not limited to: blood and bodily fluids, needles and sharps, broken glass, vehicle wreckage, electrical sources, unsafe structures, crowded areas, active roadways and train tracks, waterways and all extremes of weather conditions. 

The OCME has a staff of full time forensic investigators who conduct death investigations primarily in Baltimore City. Baltimore City Forensic Investigators are classified as State employees or contractual State employees. Baltimore City investigators are required to have a valid driver’s license, a minimum of one year of death scene investigation experience and an Associate Degree in Health Science, Police Science or Forensics. Candidates may substitute additional death scene experience for the required education. Once hired, Baltimore City Forensic Investigators are required to obtain/maintain registry certification by the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators. Applications are only accepted during an active recruitment/posting. Vacancies for this position are posted on the Maryland.gov website. 

The Chief Medical Examiner appoints on-call, county forensic investigators to conduct death investigations on behalf of the OCME. County Forensic Investigators are classified as self-employed vendors. County Forensic Investigators are paid a fee for service on a “by case” basis. The fee is pre-designated in COMAR and is not taxed at the time payment is issued. There is no payment for being on-call. A Form 1099 is issued and the forensic investigator is expected to pay the appropriate amount of taxes at the end of the year or in quarterly estimated tax payments. County Forensic Investigators are required to have a valid driver’s license and two years of death scene investigation experience. Pre-hospital/hospital trauma care, law enforcement, or other investigative experience may be substituted for the required death investigation experience. Applications for on-call forensic investigator are accepted on an open and continuous basis. To apply: