Manitowoc County is moving on from a coroner position.
The board voted 23-1 in favor of amending the removal of the job and replacing it with that of a Medical Examiner Department that would start on January 4th, 2027, the last day of Corner Curt Green’s term.
According to the ordinance, Manitowoc County gets the opportunity to establish professional qualifications for a medical examiner and continue with qualified and efficient services.
County Board Chairman Tyler Martell voted in favor of the change, saying that an elected Coroner is a relic of the past and that investigating deaths requires proper education and training.
Green said at last week’s board meeting that he again is in favor of the change, because an elected coroner doesn’t have to have medical qualifications, unlike a medical examiner.
“It’s difficult to get employees that are qualified that can, I’m just going to say, tolerate what we have to deal with sometimes,” he told the board. “These are not people laying in a casket. These are people that may not have been seen for quite a while. It can be quite unpleasant. It isn’t law enforcement’s job to deal with that.”
Green has decided to not run again for another term, hence why the county is making the switch.
County Executive Bob Ziegelbauer calls the change a step up for the county.
“It’s an important position,” he stated. “And it’s important for criminal cases, especially, but death cases can be controversial.”
The position change was first approved by the county’s personnel committee last month.
