The Legislative Council of the Territory of Orleans, by act of April 10, 1805, empowered the Governor to appoint various officers, including a coroner, for each county. Although the act did not enumerate the duties of the Coroners, later acts suggest that received bodies, summoned and swore witnesses to view each body, and returned a proces verbal in each case. Early legislation also set residence requirements for the coroners. There was no stipulation that the coroners have medical training, but they were allowed to secure the paid assistance of outside physicians or surgeons.

In 1814 the state Legislature gave the coroners law enforcement powers of arrest over persons found liable for prosecution in an inquest. The same act also made it the coroners' responsibility to bury persons who had not left sufficient funds and who had no friends or relatives able or willing to assume that obligation.

Act 105 of 1846 made the office of coroner elective. This was reaffirmed by legislative act in 1856, which also set the coroners' terms of office at two years. The 1856 law further required that the coroners put up cash bonds in the amount of $3000 ($25000 in Orleans Parish).

Following the Civil War, the legislature provided in 1868 (act #161) for the election of two coroners in Orleans Parish, one to serve the area below Canal Street and the other to serve the area above Canal, along with all of the parish on the right bank of the Mississippi River. This act set qualifications for the office of coroner, but stopped short of requiring specific medical training. It also called for the maintenance of written records and made explicit the requirements for the proper conduct of inquests.

Article #147 of the 1879 state constitution reduced the number of Orleans Parish coroners to one, to be elected every four years. It also for the first time demanded that a candidate for the office be a practicing physician and a graduate of a reputable medical college. This article further designated the coroner as ex-officio City Physician of New Orleans.