The proposed budget from Ohio House Republicans would eliminate the election of county coroners in Ohio.
Many of the coroners across the country are appointed. But critics say the move was added without debate, and Ohio voters deserve to have more say if they're to lose elected representation.
"The provision that showed up in the budget was a total shock to Ohio's corners," said David Corey, the spokesperson for the Ohio State Coroners Association.
He said he’d prefer to keep electing coroners.
State Rep. Briderose Sweeney, D-Westlake, said if lawmakers enact a change, it should be under an independent bill that allows opponent and supporter testimony.
The House members worked on the budget for several months before sending it to the Senate, but this provision was added just before it was finalized.
"This was added into our state budget bill, which is over 5,000 pages, which deals with the entire structure of state government. It was inserted into the final version of the budget 24 hours before we voted on it. And that's not how we should make any major changes, especially a change that is taking away the power of the people in the state of Ohio from having a say in who represents them," Sweeney said.
Sweeney said it's not necessarily a bad idea to appoint coroners instead of electing them.
"I will say I'm from Cuyahoga County and we actually made a change to the structure of our county government where we have a county executive, a county council and all other positions are unelected," she said.
But, she said, there's a difference.
"The voters of Cuyahoga County made that decision to take those elected positions away from being on their ballots which is different than what's happening here," Sweeney said.
WOSU reached out to the Franklin County coroner's office to talk about the issue, but was referred to the coroner advocacy group.
Corey said he's heard the move may be a way to give more power to county commissioners. He said he's also heard supporters explain that an appointment system would make it easier to fill the role of coroner, because some smaller counties can't get candidates.
The idea appears to have originated in the Ohio House Finance Committee.
"We've heard little snippets from the chairman of the House Finance Committee, who was an ex-commissioner involved and involved in the County Commissioners Association of Ohio a number of years ago," Corey said.
WOSU reached out to the chair of the finance committee Rep. Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, numerous times by phone and email, asking for his explanation. He hasn't responded.
Corey said the state already allows commissioners to appoint a coroner if no candidate runs, and allows counties to team up and contract the work out, if necessary. He said in the last election, 10 of the state's 88 counties didn't have a candidate, so half of the counties contracted with a different county and half appointed someone.
"We don't know where the problem is because in all counties we have coroners in all counties or coroners that are providing those services for those counties that don't have a coroner that's physically living in the county," Corey said.
When possible, it's best to have a coroner in each county, so death investigations move swiftly, Corey said. Coroners sign off on death investigations and either work as or employ a forensic pathologist to conduct autopsies.
Corey has concerns that appointed coroners wouldn't be as independent as an elected one.
"Who is that appointed physician coroner beholden to? Is he beholden to the person and the entity that hired him, or is he beholden to the electorate if they're elected?" he asked.
He worries a county commissioner could pressure an appointed coroner to rule a death in a certain way.
Sweeney said plenty of communities have appointed coroners without a problem, but the bill deserves a full examination. She said it's unclear if the move would save any money, because the issue hasn't been studied.
"If you think this is not something that should be in the state, budget, you should call your state senator and let them know that we should go through the normal process."
The budget is now in the hands of the state senate. Lawmakers and the governor are expected to finalized it in June.
