(a) The commissioner of health and social services shall appoint a state medical examiner to perform the duties set out in AS 12.65.015 - 12.65.025. The commissioner shall also appoint a deputy medical examiner, and may appoint assistant medical examiners, to perform or assist the state medical examiner in performing these duties. To be eligible for the position of medical examiner, deputy medical examiner, or assistant medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state. The state medical examiner, deputy medical examiner, and assistant medical examiners are in the exempt service under AS 39.25.110.
(b) The state medical examiner and the deputy medical examiner must be physicians licensed to practice in the state who have education and experience in forensic pathology.
(c) The state medical examiner and deputy medical examiner shall perform the duties assigned to the medical examiner and deputy medical examiner under AS 12.65.020 and regulations implementing that section, and other duties as assigned by the commissioner of health and social services.
(d) The state medical examiner may, through contracts for services, appoint local, regional, and district medical examiners throughout the state to perform or assist in performing the duties assigned to the state medical examiner. To be eligible for appointment as a local, regional, or district medical examiner, a person must be a physician licensed to practice in this state or, if the physician is licensed in another jurisdiction, the physician must be employed by the state or by an agency of the United States government within the state. An appointment under this subsection may be for a term of up to two years.
(e) The state medical examiner shall facilitate the formation of local, regional, or district child fatality review teams to assist local, regional, and district medical examiners in determining the cause and manner of deaths of children under 18 years of age. If a team is formed under this subsection, the team shall have the same access to information, confidentiality requirements, and immunity as provided to the state child fatality review team under AS 12.65.140. A meeting of a team formed under this subsection is closed to the public and not subject to the provisions of AS 44.62.310 - 44.62.319 (Open Meetings Act). A review by a local, regional, or district child fatality review team does not relieve the state child fatality review team under AS 12.65.120 of the responsibility for reviewing a death under AS 12.65.130. A person on a local, regional, or district child fatality review team is not eligible to receive compensation from the state for service on the team, but is eligible for travel expenses and per diem from the Department of Health and Social Services under AS 39.20.180. A person on a team formed under this subsection serves at the pleasure of the state medical examiner.