# How does one become a coroner? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451 "2006-02-01T01:46:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/1 "2006-02-01T01:46:07Z")
What type of education/experience does it take to become a coroner? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/2 "2006-02-01T02:05:02Z")
Well, believe it or not in my jurisdiction one has to get elected to the post. Beyond that I figure an MD or some such would be helpful but I’m uncertain. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/3 "2006-02-01T02:08:05Z")
It varies by jurisdiction. It does help to be an M.D. since you know, you’re expected to know about the human body. But the coroner’s office also handles a lot of paperwork so you could just be an administrative type. I had a great uncle who was a coroner in the 1920s in a rural county in Illinois and he was a veternarian. The position was elected and my father told me that he was part of the group of men who occupied most of the county offices and you couldn’t be reelected so everyody just took turns. So he was also sheriff and clerk. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/4 "2006-02-01T02:08:42Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > Well, believe it or not in my jurisdiction one has to get elected to the post. According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coroner), this is not unusual in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/5 "2006-02-01T02:09:09Z")
I recall reading some years ago that Warren Zevon was coroner in the town where he lived. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/6 "2006-02-01T02:13:27Z")
IIRC, making the coroner an appointed, professional position was part of the "“good government” movement at the turn of the last century. A friend of mine from high school had considered becoming a coroner. He was told to get the MD degree, and look for work in a large metro area as an assistant coroner (there are such things, apparently). ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/7 "2006-02-01T02:27:27Z")
Interesting replies. My first thought was that a coroner, as the presiding officer of the Coroner’s court, would need **legal** , not medical, training. I’ve always assumed that coroners would rely on expert medical advice. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/8 "2006-02-01T02:32:23Z")
The office of Coroner is not a judicial office in the US like it is in many common wealth countries. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/9 "2006-02-01T05:00:57Z")
Each of Indiana’s 92 counties elects its own coroner. In Madison County, the job is usually sought and won by an undertaker. I think you can see how that might lead to a business advantage for him. ---
**Author:** ![Thalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@Thalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thalion)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/10 "2006-02-01T06:45:29Z")
It is important to note that there is a difference between a **coroner** and a **medical examiner** (or pathologist). A coroner does all the administrative duties involved with tracking deaths in the county. A medical examiner performs autopsies. In places that don’t have medical examiners (such as the county where I live), autopsies are performed by forensic pathologists hired by the job. It’s an interesting job. The pathologist and an assistant travel from county to county, carving up bodies, writing reports and testifying in court. Coroners are elected in my state, so the only requirement for the job is whatever it takes to be elected to any public office: be a registered voter, no felony convictions, pay the filing fee and get enough votes. After the coroner is elected, he or she is sent to training on the legal requirements of the job. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2006, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-one-become-a-coroner/342451/11 "2006-02-01T11:41:45Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Interesting replies. My first thought was that a coroner, as the presiding officer of the Coroner’s court, would need **legal** , not medical, training. I’ve always assumed that coroners would rely on expert medical advice. Here in NSW you are dead right, in fact the coroner and deputy coroners must be qualified as magistrates. [A Case For the Coroner](http://www.abc.net.au/coroner/) was an interesting series on ABC. The web site has some interesting material.