PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners are expected to take action Tuesday on a three-year contract with the Thurston County Coroner’s Office to host the county’s autopsies in Tumwater.
“Last year we were here asking for a year contract for Thurston County to host our autopsies. It has gone fabulously. And we are here now asking for a new contract, but this year it will be for a three-year contract,” Deputy Prosecutor Christi Wojnowski told commissioners on Sept. 26.
Thurston had been hosting some autopsies for other counties, but this was the first contract set up where Clallam would be almost exclusively diverting its autopsies there, she said.
“So this was new for both sides,” Wojnowski said. “This was our testing year, to make sure they were setting their prices appropriately, that we were going to be able to honor our end of it.”
Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols said the transport services are being handled by the local funeral homes through a contract with the county.
“The important context and backstory in relation to this agreement involves the fact that Washington state continues to operate at a crisis level with having a shortage of forensic pathologists,” he told the commissioners.
Thurston County is a good choice because it’s a state-of-the-art facility for autopsies, which is “really necessary, appropriate and respectful given the rigors of the legal system and the really delicate nature of the work being done,” Nichols told the commissioners.
Second, so few forensic pathologists are available to do quite a bit of work that the model has turned to transporting the bodies to the forensic pathologist instead of having the forensic pathologist drive all over the state, he said.
Under state law, the prosecuting attorney also serves as the ex-officio coroner in fourth-class counties, those with fewer than 40,000 people. Clallam County is not a fourth-class county, but its elected prosecutor is the coroner because of Article IV, Section 4.20 of Clallam County’s Home Rule Charter.
In a followup email, Nichols wrote, “I have exercised my authority as the coroner to confer deputy coroner appointments on a number of folks who assist in the discharge of this function.
“Based on some changes that are occurring in state law, Clallam County may need to re-visit this issue and potentially de-couple the prosecutor and coroner functions.”
The Washington Association of County Officials website lists 15 counties, including Clallam, with a prosecutor/coroner and 18 with a coroner. The state’s five largest counties — Clark, King, Pierce, Snohomish and Spokane — have medical examiners, as does as Whatcom.
Medical examiners are appointed while coroners are elected. Medical examiners also are board certified in a medical specialty, according to the National Institute of Health.
________
Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
