Certified death certificates are issued by Vital Statistics at the Fresno County Health Department. Death certificates can be ordered through your funeral home/mortuary, or purchased directly from Vital Statistics. The Coroner’s Office does not issue death certificates. 

Some investigations can be completed in a matter of a few days. Others may take several weeks to complete, due to further toxicology testing, additional information from law enforcement, medical records, review of slides, etc.  If the manner and cause of death cannot yet be determined, additional testing and consultation with medical specialists may be need, taking many additional months to complete.  A "pending" death certificate is issued to allow family to move forward with funeral arrangements then amended when a cause of death is known.