Coroner

Tommy Davis was appointed Coroner of Newton County by Probate Judge Melanie Bell following the resignation of the previous coroner. Davis previously served as Newton County Coroner for 12 years.

The Newton County Coroner’s Office is located in the Historic Courthouse on the Square in Covington. The Coroner or a Deputy Coroner is available as needed 24 hours a day.

Death Investigation

The Georgia Death Investigation Act (O.C.G.A. 45-16-20) requires that the coroner or county medical examiner of the county where the body is found or the death occurs be notified and that a medical examiner's inquiry be made in all deaths that occur in this state that meet the following criteria:

• As a result of violence;
• By suicide or casualty;
• Suddenly when in apparent good health;
• When unattended by a physician; no person shall be deemed to have died unattended when the death occurred while the person was a patient of a hospice licensed under Article 9 of Chapter 7 of Title 31 of the Georgia Code.
• In any suspicious or unusual manner, with particular attention to those persons 16 years of age and under;
• After birth but before seven years of age if the death is unexpected or unexplained;
• As a result of an execution carried out pursuant to the imposition of the death penalty under Article 2 of Chapter 10 of Title 17;
• When an inmate of a state hospital or a state, county, or city penal institution; or
• After having been admitted to a hospital in an unconscious state and without regaining consciousness within 24 hours of admission.