After a death in Fort Worth, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s District deals with the person and the police release the property. The cleanup itself falls to the owner or the next of kin — here is what applies in Tarrant County, with the sources.
Who releases the property, who to call, and what the housing here means for the work. Every
figure below is sourced, and anything we could not verify is left out rather than guessed at.
Assistance is available 24 hours a day at 817-920-5700.
“Bodies brought to the Medical Examiner’s Office are generally ready for release to a funeral home or crematorium within 24 hours, although rarely, a body is held longer for legal purposes.”
— Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s District
Funeral home releases are weekdays only, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are no weekend or holiday releases.
Also published by that office
—“The Medical Examiner’s Office does not store, embalm or cremate bodies.”
—“Depending upon the complexity of a case and the number of postmortem tests ordered, an examination report may take up to 12 weeks or longer before being completed.”
None of these offices clean the property. That is arranged by whoever owns it, or by the next of kin.
The contact page lists 817-392-4222 to report a non-emergency, the main line 817-392-4200 at 505 W. Felix St, listed for 8:00-5:00 Monday to Friday, and 817-392-3900 at 501 Jones St for after 5:00 PM and on weekends.
For anything in progress, call 911. Police do not clean a scene once they have finished with it.
Storage of discarded, used and broken items, including “any other materials which tend by decay to become putrid or to provide harborage for rodents and other vectors.”
Tarrant County runs a medical examiner district rather than a county office, covering Tarrant, Parker, Denton and Johnson Counties together. A body is generally ready for release within 24 hours, but the examination report is a different matter — the county itself says it may take up to 12 weeks or longer.
Releases to a funeral home are weekdays only, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with no weekend or holiday releases. The office also does not store, embalm or cremate, so a funeral home has to be chosen before anything moves.
Fort Worth has the newest housing of the North Texas cities on this network — a median build year of 1994 — and it is more owner-occupied than Dallas, at 43.0% rented against Dallas’s 57.6%. More single-family homes and fewer building managers usually means simpler access.
Where household waste can go — and where this cannot
The published not-accepted list names “Medicines & Medical waste”, so biohazard material cannot go there.
Facility
Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center
Address
6400 Bridge St., Fort Worth, TX 76112
Hours
Thursday and Friday 11 a.m.–7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.–3 p.m.
Arlington, Tarrant County and dozens of other entities feed into this one facility. Proof of residence required.
Texas excludes household waste from the medical-waste rules, so a family clearing a home is not
breaking them. That is a point about waste law, not about safety: blood and body fluids carry
bloodborne pathogens, they soak into materials that look dry, and this is work for someone with
protective equipment and training. The drop-offs refuse the material anyway, so ask any contractor where it goes; one holding a
medical-waste transporter registration under 30 TAC 326.53 has a lawful route into disposal.
Check a company in the TCEQ registry
How Fort Worth names its areas
The city publishes 11 neighborhood improvement program areas.
Fort Worth also lists hundreds of registered neighborhood associations, but that roster dates from 2020; these eleven are current.
New MitchellFairhavenWorth HeightsSeminaryHistoric MarineLas Vegas TrailComoRosemont AreaNorthside AreaAsh CrescentStop Six
These offices help victims and families directly, and none of them will try to sell you anything.
Fort Worth Police Department — Victim Assistance Section817-392-4390
Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney — Victim Services817-884-2740
The Texas Crime Victims’ Compensation Program pays up to $2,250 toward crime-scene
cleanup for crimes after July 14, 2016, and it pays last — after any homeowners’ or
renters’ insurance. It applies to violent crime, not to an unattended natural death, and it
does not cover structural repairs. Claims run within 3 years of the crime, unless good cause can be shown for the delay.
Program rulesWhat it excludesEligibility and deadline
What to ask a company about Fort Worth specifically
Ask where the material will actually go. The Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center refuses it, so a contractor has to haul it — ask where it goes, and whether it leaves under a TCEQ medical-waste transporter registration you can look up.
Ask whether they will document the work in a way that answers a code-compliance notice under Fort Worth City Code § 11A-26, in case one arrives. A property left untouched in Fort Worth becomes a code-compliance matter, not just a private one.
Ask who they will deal with at the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s District, and whether they will wait for the property to be released before anyone enters.
The questions that apply to any company anywhere in Texas — insurance, bloodborne-pathogens
training, the waste route, a written scope — are in one place:
what to check before you hire.
County
Tarrant County
Dallas–Fort Worth
Residents
about 919,000
Fort Worth, TX
Services covered
6
Biohazard, crime scene, death, hoarding, odor
Cost to you
Free
We are paid by providers, not by families
Providers serving Fort Worth
No company has finished our checks in Fort Worth yet, so there is nothing here we would stand behind.
We would rather show you that than a list we cannot vouch for.
Call (866) 697-0754
or leave your number. We will tell you plainly what we can and cannot do for it.
The checks a company has to pass are published in full.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s District, on 817-920-5700. It examines and releases the person; it does not clean the property, and neither does the police department or the fire service. That falls to the property owner or the next of kin.
How long does the Tarrant County office take?
Its published wording is: “Bodies brought to the Medical Examiner’s Office are generally ready for release to a funeral home or crematorium within 24 hours, although rarely, a body is held longer for legal purposes.” Funeral home releases are weekdays only, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. There are no weekend or holiday releases.
What do I call in Fort Worth if it is not an emergency?
The contact page lists 817-392-4222 to report a non-emergency, the main line 817-392-4200 at 505 W. Felix St, listed for 8:00-5:00 Monday to Friday, and 817-392-3900 at 501 Jones St for after 5:00 PM and on weekends. Anything in progress is still 911.
Can I take the material to a Fort Worth drop-off myself?
No. The published not-accepted list names “Medicines & Medical waste”, so biohazard material cannot go there. Texas waste law does not stop a household clearing its own home, but with the Fort Worth drop-off closed to it, the material leaves with a contractor — so ask the contractor where it goes before anything is agreed.
It happened in a rented home in Fort Worth. Who pays?
43% of occupied homes in Fort Worth are rented, so this comes up often. Start with the lease and both insurers; the statewide rules on repairs, belongings and the deposit are in our guide to a death in a Texas rental.
Is there help with the cost after a crime?
After a violent crime, the state Crime Victims’ Compensation Program pays up to $2,250 toward cleanup — after your insurance, never for repairs, and not after a natural death. In Fort Worth, Fort Worth Police Department — Victim Assistance Section on 817-392-4390, and Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney — Victim Services on 817-884-2740 can help with the claim.
You don't have to handle this alone.
Call or leave your number about a property in Fort Worth. We will tell you plainly what we can and cannot do for it.
