I want to be a coroner

General Questions
#1

Well, no I don’t. But someone must, because I’ve seen bumper stickers for “Joe Blow for County Coroner” before.

Is this really an elected post? Well, I’m guessing it is, but I’m suprised. Is there any competition? Are there Democratic and Republican coroners (as a party, not just a personal view)? I would imagine you’d need to be a doctor to be elected to the post, but what does this guy do? And why do we need an elected head coroner instead of letting the hospitals do their own thing? Are private coroners under the control of this guy? And finally, does it really make sense to let the public vote on who the coroner will be when it’s no doubt going to be between a couple of guys no one has ever heard of?

#2

In Texas thee ELECTED Justice of the Peace acts as coroner. They pronounce the LEGAL cause of death,murder, accident ,natural cause. There is a County Medical Examiner, who is a doctor, not an elected position appointed by county court, the ME determines the ACTUAL cause of death, under him (her) are trained pathologists, forensic examiners,etc the Me and assts. do the autopsies, examinations, and investigating.With whatever assistance they need from the cops or others. Any doctor can pronounce cause of death and the coroner just 'rubber stamps ’ (which is usualy what happens in a hospital)if there is any question of it,then the coroner can have the ME or any other doctors check on it. And of course when Joe Blow is found with his brains blown out ,every body gets involved. Was it his opponent? Suicide because of low poll ratings? Was he already dead and somebody used him for target practice?

#3

Aahhh… Well, that helps explain a little on what his job is, but since the sticker had the word ‘Coroner’ on it (which is what caught my attention), I’m guessing that here in Illinois it’s not a sub-duty of the Justice of the Peace.

“I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”

#4

Nice AP story out of Egypt in the paper today about a man declared dead after he was floating in the ocean. Several hours later in the morgue he wakes up and grabs the arm of one of the attendants who was showing another family their loved one. The attendant and others ran screaming from the morgue yelling for help. Now if this were to happen in the US my guess is that it wouldn’t matter whether the Coroner were elected or hired, he would be sued to within an inch of his life.

#5

I had a granduncle who was elected Coroner of Clinton County, Illinois. His daytime job was as a veteranarian.
The job was elected and under Illinois law at the time (1920s-30s) you couldn’t run for reelection. So, one group of guys would get together, run for the respective countwide offices (sheriff, coroner, JP, commissioners, etc.) and then change places for the next election.

In a rural county, you could get away with those sort of things.

#6

Of course it’s an elected post. The public wouldn’t want one guy to coroner the market, would they?

#7

The main reason that some places have an elected coroner is that the job is a decision making part of the legal system. Some places follow the theory that you elect the legislators and then allow them to appoint the appropriate officials (ie judges, attorney generals, sheriffs, coroners, etc). Other places feel that these posts should be filled directly by the people.

#8

<< Now if this were to happen in the US my guess is that it wouldn’t matter whether the Coroner were elected or hired, he would be sued to within an inch of his life. >>

Nahhh… In the U.S., the “body” would’ve been drained of blood and the organs would’ve been harvested, so it wouldn’t have been an issue.

#9

I’ve always thought that to become the Head Coroner, you had to have a slavic or foriegn name and speak with a creepy accent.

Too much Bela Lugosi, I know

#10

The Head coroner only makes rulings on cases involving death by injury to the cranium.

#11

Well the Head Coroner might have been called in if Mr Bobbit hadn’t survived that little knife mishap.