PUBLIC DISPOSITION
When someone dies in the District of Columbia, and no family member or friend comes forward to claim the body within fifteen (15) days after it is received at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME), OCME arranges for cremation. This is known as “public disposition.”
Once a year, usually on a Saturday in the autumn, OCME holds a memorial service for the unclaimed. Their ashes (“cremains”) are buried at a local cemetery. Family, friends, and the public are invited to attend the memorial service.
OCME and the contracted Funeral Home cannot provide Death Certificates. A Death Certificate can only be obtained from DC Health’s Vital Records Department:
Vital Records
DC Department of Health
899 North Capital Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
(202) 442-9303
https://dchealth.dc.gov/service/death-certificates
Spanish Español Vietnamese Tiếng Việt
[PDF] This document is presented in Portable Document Format (PDF). A PDF reader is required for viewing. Download a PDF Reader or learn more about PDFs.