A proposal could render the election of coroners dead and buried.
The Ohio House’s version of the state’s biennial budget included a proposal to eliminate coroner elections. Instead, county commissioners would appoint coroners for their jurisdictions, which they do in some instances.
It comes down to whether people want the job. Proponents of the measure say people are not dying to fill the post, while others say there has been lively competition for the office.
“It’s really hard to find folks that want to serve as a coroner at all, it’s even harder to find folks who are willing to be the coroner and want to run a political campaign to do so,” the Dayton Daily News quoted state Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, as saying.
According to the newspaper’s report, Ohio Senate President Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, asked members of his caucus to comment on the proposal if they had “strong feelings.”
McColley continued: “If members feel strongly that it should go back to the way that it is under current law, then there’s a possibility to see an amendment here in the omnibus,” the Dayton Daily News quoted McColley. “We didn’t see a lot of members — we saw some — but we didn’t see a lot of members asking for it to be changed back.”
The addition surprised some state lawmakers and the association that represents coroners. Concerns range from disputes about whether a coroner shortage exists to whether adding such a provision is the right way to address the issue.
“This was added into our state budget bill, which is over 5,000 pages, which deals with the entire structure of state government,” WOSU quoted state Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake.
“It was inserted into the final version of the budget 24 hours before we voted on it,” Sweeney added. “And that’s not how we should make any major changes, especially a change that is taking away the power of the people in the state of Ohio from having a say in who represents them.”
David Corey, executive director of the Ohio State Coroners Association, was also apparently surprised by the proposal.
“The provision that showed up in the budget was a total shock to Ohio’s [coroners],” WOSU quoted Corey as saying.
In testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Corey disputed assertions “that there is an issue with finding physicians to run for the office of county coroner.” He noted that five coroners were appointed in 2024 during the latest election; however, Corey told lawmakers that two of those appointments stemmed from retirements.
“We recognize that perception is often reality when elected positions are not secured through the election process,” Corey said in prepared testimony to the committee.
“Under current law, commissioners already have the authority to appoint a coroner if no one runs for the office,” Corey added. “Plus, under current law, they have the authority, if the county can’t find anyone to appoint, the commissioners can contract with another county coroner to provide coroner services.
In his testimony, Corey said the provision isn’t needed, and if approved, it would not lead to any cost savings. He told lawmakers that any changes should be addressed in a standalone bill.
“In fact, there is no reason to ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’, so to speak,” Corey added. “Why make such a drastic change to a well-respected system? We’ve asked ourselves that many times, especially in light of the fact that commissioners already have that authority in certain circumstances that we just outlined. Additionally, there have been numerous county commissioners that have informed us that they, “want nothing to do with appointing coroners, or any other current county elected official for that fact.”
