I wouldn't get caught dead running for this office...

[brooklynite]

Two things certain in Albany: Death and coroner elections

For the uninitiated, coroner is an elected position in Albany County, as it is in 37 other counties statewide. That means voters will see coroner candidates on the ballot next week.

The roles and duties of the coroner were formally established in medieval England, when the king sent coroners to death scenes to “protect the crown’s interest” and collect taxes. This system was brought to the colonies. Starting in the late 1800s, some states started to replace coroners with medical examiners and impose requirements that trained physicians perform autopsies. Common critiques of the coroner system are a lack of formal training in forensic science and potential conflicts of interest. In smaller counties where being coroner is a part-time job, coroners may have close ties to public safety agencies. For example, coroners who also serve in fire response or emergency management services might be influenced by the chatter they hear on the police radio. In California, the local sheriff serves as the local coroner for over 80 percent of counties. Even if they are insulated from the pressures of public safety agencies, elected coroners may have conflicts when determining the cause of death in cases where the true manner of death is publicly stigmatizing or self-inflicted — such as suicide, AIDS, or opioid overdose.

Coroners currently have two large missions. As medical detectives, their evidence and testimony in suspicious deaths is critical for the criminal justice system. As public health officers, their work is important for surveillance of diseases, injuries, and terrorism. Although coroners, medical examiners, and death investigators have traditionally served the criminal justice system, they have assumed new roles in larger-reaching public safety, medical, and public health applications in the past few decades.

http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/278424/two-things-certain-in-albany-death-and-coroner-elections/

[PJMcK]

1. It could be a good thing to elect coroners

Everybody dies and then the survivors need a death certificate. If the role of coroner were an out-sourced position held by someone in business-- say, a funeral home director-- that position could be exploited at the public's expense.

However, your headline was clever, brooklynite! By the way, are you a Dodgers fan?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

2. Better that coroners are medical professionals.

An elected one with zero understanding of the office and what it entails is a truly bad idea. Probably worse than a funeral home director. Plus, you'd have the b.s. of running for office, soliciting donations and votes, and so on.

I will say that I recently had occasion to deal with two different funeral homes in two different parts of the country because of the death of someone near to me. Both funeral homes, and every single employee I dealt with in each establishment was incredibly professional. I cannot say enough good things about either of them.