page_title: Coroner (Washington state)
section_title: Contemporary status
hierarchical_section_title: Coroner (Washington state) / History / Contemporary status
caption_attribution_description: English: A campaign sign in the 2018 election for Coroner of Kitsap County, Washington, United States
context_page_description: A coroner in Washington state is a quasi-judicial, public official principally charged with the certification of human death. It is completely identical in authority to the parallel office of medical examiner, which also exists in the state. Washington uses a "mixed system" of death investigation with some counties employing coroners, and some employing medical examiners.
  As of 2017, 24 of Washington's 39 counties have a coroner or a medical examiner. In 15 rural counties there are neither coroners nor medical examiners; duties normally performed by a coroner or medical examiner are instead discharged by the county's prosecuting attorney.
context_section_description: The Revised Code of Washington, as of 2017, provides for the creation of an office of coroner in each county with a population of 40,000 or more. In counties with a population less than 40,000, no independent office of coroner is authorized and the duties which normally fall to a corner are discharged by the county's attorney instead. In addition, counties which have a population greater than 250,000 may choose to replace the office of corner with that of medical examiner. Medical examiners are elected by the legislative authority of the county in which they hold office and are required to be certified as a forensic pathologist by the American Board of Pathology, while coroners are elected by the voters of the county in which they hold office and are required to have no qualifications other than the right to vote. 
  In 1968, prior to the enactment of the medical examiner statute, 17 counties had coroners while the remaining 22 counties had no coroners, the county prosecuting attorney discharging the duties of coroner, instead. As of 2017 in Washington, 18 counties have coroners, six have medical examiners, and 15 have neither coroners nor medical examiners, the county attorney performs the functions otherwise discharged by a coroner or medical examiner.
caption: A campaign sign in the 2018 election for Coroner of Kitsap County, Washington
exif: {}