In a significant move for public health and forensic science in Arizona, the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office (PCMEO) has been granted full accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME), as was reported on Pinal County's official website yesterday.
The path to accreditation included key milestones for the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office (PCMEO), beginning with a strategic shift in 2016 when the office ended its reliance on contracted services from the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office. Since then, PCMEO has developed in-house capabilities, culminating in a major upgrade in 2023 with the opening of a state-of-the-art facility in Florence. These developments paved the way for the recent accreditation by the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME).
With its recent accreditation, the Pinal County Medical Examiner's Office (PCMEO) becomes one of approximately 85 medical examiner and coroner offices nationwide to meet the National Association of Medical Examiners’ (NAME) standards. The accreditation affirms PCMEO's adherence to nationally recognized procedures and quality benchmarks in death investigations — a standard now officially recognized across Arizona and the U.S.
