Introduction and aim: Although having a history of legal problems is a well-recognised risk factor for suicide, comprehensive research into this relevant public health concern remains scarce.We aim to examine the prevalence and characteristic of persons that had pending legal matters at the time of death (excluding actual imprisonment).Procedure: All suicide cases from Queensland Suicide Register that occurred in period 1994-2007 (n=7,672) were analysed in regards to possible records of pending legal matters.Data sources include police forms with psychological autopsy questionnaires, post-mortem and toxicology analyses, and coroners findings.Results: Approximately 400 (5.2%) of suicide cases had current or pending legal problems at the time of death; great majority of those were males (90%).Among most frequent offences were: sexual offences, commonly against a minor (18.5%), domestic violence or breach of domestic violence order (12.4%), traffic related offences (8.2%), and financial offences or theft (7.3%).Compared to suicide cases with no pending legal matters, these persons were more often of Indigenous ethnicity and lived in regional/remote areas.In contrast, they were less likely to have a diagnosed mental disorder or records of other significant life events, such as relationship or financial problems.A few case reports will be presented, highlighting common factors related to these deaths.Discussion: Increasing awareness of suicide risk factors in persons in contact with the law at, or around the time of death is required to improve availability of adequate response services and their efficacy in preventing suicide by this vulnerable population.Potential avenues for future collaborations between suicidology and forensic psychology will be discussed.