BLUE ASH, Ohio — Ohio coroners are fighting against a major change to how they're selected after the state House passed a budget bill that would end elections for the position.
The bill would give county commissioners the power to appoint coroners instead of voters electing them, a change that would take effect in 2029.
What coroners are saying
Five different county coroners in the Greater Cincinnati region have signed a letter to Ohio lawmakers opposing the current state budget bill. The coroners said Ohio lawmakers are "burying" the proposal within House Bill 96, which is thousands of pages long.
"We were not consulted at all," said Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco at a press conference on Tuesday. "This seems like a solution looking for a problem."
Go inside a forensic lab as coroners rally against proposed changes:
Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix, Clermont County Coroner Brian Treon and Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove joined Sammarco at a press conference at the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office in Blue Ash on Tuesday.
The four coroners said the change could jeopardize their independence, which is crucial to their role in determining manner and cause of death.
"With fear from career retribution, a ruling of suicide could be swayed to accidental, or worse, a ruling of homicide could be swayed to undetermined," Treon said.
The coroners said they were worried political pressure could be used to rule on the cause of death in cases of murders or individuals in police custody.
Uptegrove questioned the need for change.
"Why would you want to rock the boat and interject something new when it's working fine the way it is?" Uptegrove said.
Twenty-three states and DC use the medical examiner system, whereas 20 states are served by county coroners, including Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.
What advocates are saying
The County Commissioners Association of Ohio (CCAO) has long lobbied for the policy position change, arguing it allows for regional efficiency.
“Removing the coroner as an elected official will allow for counties to regionalize medical examinations of the deceased, a practice that is already happening due to market forces,” the CCAO wrote to its members in an e-bulletin after the budget was voted out of committee.
Clermont County Commissioner and CCAO President David Painter said the change is aimed at helping smaller counties pool resources for better quality care.
“This change would be meant to facilitate flexibility and really bang for your buck” he said.
Painter said implementation could look different depending on the size and resources of a county.
"You would appoint a coroner, or you may well appoint a medical examiner, or you may choose to outsource that with some other place,” he said. “But either way you would do it, you would try to do it in the most economical way that you could."
In Clermont County, Painter said the coroner’s office already outsources autopsies to Hamilton County.
“We even see the synergistic effect from being able to use a county, a large county, that’s close to us,” Painter said.
Two state senators, Dr. Steve Huffman and Dr. Terry Johnson, are both former coroners. Painter said the pair will be instrumental in providing feedback as the legislative body reviews the bill.
When asked if CCAO would reconsider its position given the pushback from coroners, Painter said, "They are always open for a conversation on those kinds of things."
Painter said he did not have concerns about political pressure to rule on a cause of death.
What’s next?
Earlier in the day, Treon said the idea that appointment is a cost-saving measure “rings hollow.”
“It does not alter the qualifications of that person, nor does it dispose of the need for a coroner,” Treon said. “Whether that person is elected or appointed, the coroner would perform the same duties and require the same staff.”
"Under the new system, the corner system would cost exactly the same,” he continued.
Sammarco said she has had conversations with senators about an amendment removing the language, but she said she is frustrated with how the proposal was handled from the start.
“It was irresponsible, and why not ask us?" Sammarco said.
The Ohio Senate must vote on the bill by early June before it goes to the Governor’s desk.
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