For nearly three decades, the alaska state medical examiner's office has been a stalwart in serving the people of alaska

IT has diligently investigated sudden, unexpected, and unattended deaths, thereby safeguarding public health and public safety. Over the years, the office has evolved into a crucial partner for law enforcement agencies and public health organizations, providing invaluable assistance to numerous families. Despite its commendable service, the state medical examiner's office is currently grappling with high caseloads and a lack of funds to update its equipment and infrastructure. The caseloads have surged by 21% over the past five years, while state budget deficits have hampered the office's ability to invest in critical components. These challenges are directly impeding the timeliness, security, and accuracy of death investigations, underscoring the urgent need for support. To address these challenges, the state medical examiner's office (smeo) is seeking grant funding through the bureau of justice assistance (BJA) strengthening medical examiner-coroner system program to achieve national accreditation through the national association of medical examiners (name). Achieving name accreditation will provide the state of alaska with best practices and excellence in forensic pathology and death investigations. Presently, the smeo is grappling with a range of operational challenges. These include inadequate security controls that expose vulnerabilities in the chain of custody procedures, broken transportation equipment that delays transportation and poses associated safety risks, outdated refrigeration units that require repair and potentially compromise the integrity of remains, and an outdated case management system that creates workflow inefficiencies and slows data sharing with key partners. Additionally, limited training pathways hinder the development and sustainability of skilled medicolegal investigators. The alaska state medical examiner modernization and accreditation project will modernize operations and restore critical components to achieve national accreditation by name. Key activities of the project include replacing broken transportation equipment, repairing refrigeration units, installing controlled access to evidence storage, modernizing the case management system, and certifying medicolegal investigators through the american board of medicolegal death investigators (abmdi). The project's expected outcomes are substantial. Through modernizing operations, the smeo will strengthen workforce retention, reduce case processing times, improve safety and transportation times, ensure health and safety compliance, and safeguard evidence. Collectively, implementing these necessary improvements to equipment and infrastructure will contribute to progress toward name accreditation.