By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — State law requires all deaths in a county, suspicious or violent, in a nursing home or hospice care, to be reported to the county coroner.
The coroner, an elected official in all but two of Arkansas’ 75 counties, is responsible for signing death certificates, notifying next of kin, drawing fluids for toxicology tests and testifying in court, among other things. The county judge appoints coroners in Pulaski and Faulkner counties.
The list of duties would seem to suggest the qualifications needed to serve as coroner are rigorous, but any state resident who is 18 or older can qualify for the job.
The actual skill level and ability of coroners vary widely across the state, from those who work for small counties with little or no funding for training or extra help to those who work in larger counties where they are encouraged to receive advanced training and have additional staff.
Also, in as many as 65 counties the post is part-time, with the officeholder paid $3,800 to $10,000 a year while juggling coroner’s duties and another job.
“They have to do their regular jobs and then be coroner and hope they don’t get fired,” said Arkansas Coroner’s Association President Leonard Krout, who for the first 16 years of his 20 years as Pope County coroner worked as a full-time emergency medical technician.
The Legislature this year created a new 13-member task force to develop new training and education requirements for the state’s coroners to bring uniform statewide standards to the post in time for the 2011 regular session.
Gov. Mike Beebe appointed 11 members to the new task force last week. Others on the panel include the state medical examiner and director of the state Department of Health.
Krout, a task force member, has one part-time employee and handles about 450 to 475 cases a year. Pulaski County Coroner Garland Camper, also named to the panel, has a staff of six and handles about 3,500 cases a year. Both said the need for state standards for coroners is clear.
“They looked at the continuing education of all the various law enforcement and there was not a uniform training standard for coroners around the state,” Camper said. “There are coroners around the state that actually get the training themselves that’s needed to do the job. We (Pulaski County) actually have a budget amount that our people can use to attend the classes, but a lot of counties don’t fund that.”
Both Krout and Camper said they hope to see is a new coroner’s education program through the Criminal Justice Institute.
Camper currently teaches a class on coroner death scene investigations at the institute, but said most of his students are law enforcement officers.
“What we’re trying to do is get a curriculum that is primarily steered toward coroner certification training,” he said.
Jim Clark, director of the institute, which is affiliated with the University of Arkansas System, also was named to the task force.
State Rep. Gene Shelby, D-Hot Springs, who served as Garland County coroner for six years before being elected to the Legislature, said he hopes the task force is a success.
“I’m glad we’re moving forward on it because there are still lots and lots of gaps in death investigations,” said Shelby, sponsor of the legislation that created the task force.
“I saw first hand the need for improving death investigations around the state,” he said.
During the 2007 session, Shelby sponsored a bill the Legislature adopted setting new minimum guidelines for completing coroner reports.
“I’m sure the task force will look at those minimum guidelines as well as set some new training standards,” he said.
Kermit Channell, executive director of the state Crime Lab, said the task force will improve training and standards and will be a good venue for coroners to express their concerns.
“Ultimately it will make the position of the coroner in the county in Arkansas something that the community itself can be very proud of, knowing their coroners are getting help educationally,” he said.
Channell said his office earlier this year hosted a class for county coroners and about 60 coroners and their deputies attended.
“Those kinds of things pay dividends back to the county which they serve,” he said.
Krout said he is also working with some lawmakers to try and increase coroners’ pay.
Task force member Roger Morris, the Washington County coroner who also works full-time as an embalmer at Nelson Berna Funeral Home in Fayetteville, said he supports the goals of the task force.
“Once we sit down and evaluate what’s going on, then we will have a better idea of where we stand,” he said.
Others named to the task force were Calhoun County Coroner Johnnie Davis; Craighead County Coroner Toby Emerson; Dr. Scott Hall of Helena-West Helena; Woodruff County Sheriff Freddie Hudson; Phillips County Coroner Earnest Larry; funeral home owner Ann Loy of Malvern; and attorney John Threet of Fayetteville.
