County Coroner Measure Plan Replaces Coroner With Medical Examiner

Voters can’t get rid of Dexter Amend, but they can make sure that he’s the last Spokane County coroner.

A proposal on the Nov. 5 ballot will let voters decide whether to eliminate the position in favor of a medical examiner.

Amend will still be allowed to finish the last two years of his term, regardless of the vote.

A 77-year-old urologist who makes $48,658 a year, Amend has been criticized for offending grieving families with questions about masturbation, sodomy and alcoholism. His death certificates have been questioned. He’s been an outspoken opponent of what he calls “the homosexual lifestyle.”

Amend has refused to comment on the ballot measure, aside from saying that a coroner can counsel grieving families better than a medical examiner.

Coroners are aren’t necessarily doctors. They do not perform autopsies but decide when autopsies are necessary. Because they are elected, coroners sometimes are seen as accountable to the voters and not politically influenced.

Medical examiners are appointed. They’re often highly trained forensic pathologists who perform autopsies, but they aren’t necessarily trained administrators.

A bill signed by Gov. Mike Lowry in Spokane allows the county to vote on the ballot measure.

The measure doesn’t specify how a medical examiner would operate in Spokane County. If it passes, county commissioners would establish the system over the next two years or appoint a board to do so.

Proponents hope a medical examiner would report to the county Health District or an appointed panel. They want the position to be free of politics.

Opponents say a medical examiner system isn’t necessary in Spokane.

They say the county doesn’t have enough murders or questionable deaths to justify the position.

Both sides agree that a medical examiner system would cost more money. The coroner’s office budget is about $430,000 this year.

Estimates suggest it could leap up several hundred thousand dollars, to pay for new staffing and to bump up Spokane’s autopsy rate to a national level.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: THE PLAN The measure would replace the Spokane County coroner with a medical examiner once Dexter Amend leaves office. The medical examiner would be an appointed forensic patholgist, as opposed to the elected coroner who doesn’t have to be a doctor.