PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County will decouple its coroner’s office from the prosecuting attorney’s office just in time to align with state law updates that will take effect Jan. 1.
The three county commissioners unanimously agreed on Monday to create an independent coroner’s office and to appoint local funeral director David Bradley as the new county coroner, effective next month.
County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy will continue serving as coroner through Dec. 31.
Clallam County has identified and is currently working through a few different options for who will fill the coroner position, with action expected during the county commissioners’ Dec. 31 regular session.
These changes were ushered in by a 2021 amendment to state law. Currently, the law dictates that county prosecutors will automatically serve as coroners in counties with fewer than 40,000 people. Based on the 2021 changes, that requirement will be removed on Jan. 1.
Based on those amendments, the state attorney general’s office released an opinion in August interpreting the changes to mean that the county prosecuting attorney, and anyone practicing law, would be barred from also serving as the coroner due to potential conflicts of interest.
Counties whose prosecutors served as ex officio coroner, including both Jefferson County and Clallam County, had to come up with a new plan, and quickly. Clallam County is still working through its options.
“A lot of this is eleventh hour,” deputy prosecuting attorney Melissa Pleimann said during a commissioners meeting.
In order to comply with the updated law, Kennedy said there were three options Jefferson County could have chosen: electing a coroner, appointing a coroner or contracting with a neighboring county for coroner services.
If the county chose to elect a coroner, Kennedy said that would incur more expenses and a higher burden for the county.
An interlocal agreement also had unique problems, specifically with the geographic difficulty it would pose for neighboring counties, he said.
That left the county with the option of appointing a coroner.
In compensation for his services, Bradley will receive $1,500 a month without benefits. The current contract is for a one-year term, with the possibility to renegotiate and renew it in the future.
After Bradley begins his role as coroner, Kennedy said the prosecutor’s office will be marginally involved in helping with budgetary and administrative work for the coroner’s office.
As of Monday, Pleimann said Jefferson County was the only affected county that had successfully created a separate coroner’s office and found someone to fill that role.
While Clallam also must identify someone who can fill the coroner position in lieu of Mark Nichols, the county’s prosecuting attorney, it has the added complexity of navigating its own charter requirements.
Currently, the Clallam County charter dictates that the county prosecutor also must serve as coroner. The county will need to amend its charter in order to reconcile it with changes to state law.
In the interim period, the hope is that one of the county’s two district court judges will serve as coroner.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
