CINCINNATI — Five different county coroners in the Greater Cincinnati region have signed a letter to Ohio lawmakers opposing the current state budget bill, which they say contains language that would change their position from an elected one to an appointed one.
The letter was signed by Butler County Coroner Lisa Mannix, Clermont County Coroner Brian Treon, Hamilton County Coroner Lakshmi Sammarco, Highland County Coroner Jeff Beery and Warren County Coroner Russell Uptegrove.
The state's budget bill would, according to the letter, change the position of county coroner from an elected one to one appointed by the Board of County Commissioners instead.
"The office of the County Coroner — a position elected by the people — serves as a vital check against institutional overreach by ensuring that cause and manner of death determinations and forensic investigations are conducted impartially and without undue influence," reads the letter. "Eliminating this role removes a layer of democratic oversight and risks consolidating investigative power in less accountable, potentially politicized hands."
The letter continues to say this proposed change would disrupt the current election process and make county coroners beholden to their appointer, rather than to the citizens of the county.
The coroners said Ohio lawmakers are "burying" the proposal within the state budget bill — House Bill 96 — which is thousands of pages long.
The coroners who signed the letter also said Ohio lawmakers wrote the language into the bill without communicating at all with individually elected coroners or the Ohio State Coroners Association.
The letter calls that move "unprofessional and reckless."
It also points out that, to the coroners' knowledge, there were no public hearings about any perceived challenges with the elected status of coroners in the state, or any other possible solutions.
"Neither were there any town halls with the voters to discuss depriving them of their power," reads the letter.
The letter urges lawmakers to reject the current HB-96 language that would eliminate the coroner's elected position.
There will be a press conference on April 22 at the Hamilton County Coroner's Office to "further discuss this issue," says an email from the Hamilton County Coroner's Office.
