AGENCY INFORMATION:

The Summit County Office of the Coroner (SCOC) is a separate and independent division of the Summit County Government and is funded through the Summit County Commissioners by the citizens of Summit County. The Coroner is a salaried position and there are two sworn Deputy Coroners that assist on a case-by-case basis.

STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

By statute, it is the Coroner’s job to prove Cause and Manner of death. The Cause of death is considered the “medical” cause. Manner of death concerns the medical explanation of “how” the death occurs. In Colorado, five categories are recognized for manner of death:

Natural -    Death caused by a disease process occurring naturally such as heart, liver, or renal disease.  

Accidental -   Death which occurs by an unintentional event or chain of events.   This can include falls, motor vehicle accidents, skier vs. tree, climbing accidents etc.

Homicide -   Death which results from the actions of another whether inflicted by gross recklessness, behavior which is implicit (silent observer or assist in) or explicit (elements present & obvious). It is not the coroner’s job to make a case against the accused, just to illustrate cause and manner and by what means.

Suicide -   Intentional act of ending ones own life by various means.

Undetermined -   Is assigned when manner of death is unclear or not defined.   This can happen when no medical cause is found upon autopsy or when remains are found that can’t explain manner.

It has been misunderstood that the responsibility of assigning manner falls to law enforcement agencies but it is in fact, the responsibility of the Coroner.

Finding Cause and Manner may be assisted through ordering a forensic autopsy or it may be found through medical records and history, interviewing, findings at the scene and so forth. For a more in depth description of duties, see below.

OTHER DUTIES INCLUDE:

The staff of SCOC represents the deceased party.Or in essence, “speaks for the dead”.   Someone is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to a death.This encompasses many skills and an understanding of the laws pertaining to the Coroner’s office. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Respond to and investigate the scene of the death. In some instances there is more than one scene.This can occur when someone is taken from an accident scene to Summit Medical Center. In cases such as these, BOTH scenes need to be documented through photographs, sketches, witness statements, law enforcement or EMS/Fire accounts.

• Positively identify a decedent.This may be done through fingerprinting, dental records, tattoos, medical records and so forth. A driver’s license or ID is not usually enough proof.

• Determine approximate date and time of death.

• Remove the decedent from the scene. If an autopsy is deemed necessary, the decedent will be brought to the Jefferson County Morgue Facility. If one is not needed, toxicology may be drawn and the decedent placed in the Summit County cooler.

• Identify, and properly collect and process evidence pertinent to the scene and body.

• Notify Next of Kin and provide assistance and information.

• Conduct interviews with physicians, family, neighbors, witnesses to event in order to piece together social and medical history as well as history leading up to and the event.

• Document findings and facts in an unbiased report. It is not the Coroner’s job to prove guilt or fault or to “take sides”.  

• To assist or be present at autopsy to convey findings to Forensic Pathologist as well as to take photographs, fingerprints and gather pertinent evidence.

• To assist and interact with District Attorney, local law enforcement, local ambulance, fire departments, report to health department, other attorney’s, funeral homes, Consumer Product Safety, Organ Donation Teams, Clinics, Physicians, OSHA, insurance companies, private investigators, etc.

• Provide testimony at depositions or in court. This responsibility may also be assigned to the Forensic Pathologist but because of the nature of this system, the Forensic Pathologist cannot speak for what occurred or was found on scene.The Coroner must be able to meet with police; civil, defense or prosecuting attorney’s, insurance companies, media and families.

• Release of information to public via press releases.

• Provide training to law enforcement, schools, health agencies or other community service agencies in the field of Death Investigation, on the roles and functions of the office, and drug, alcohol awareness.

• Attend continuing education seminars pertinent to the field of Death Investigation.

• Attend county meetings.

• Understand what tools to use in order to complete an investigation.

• Administrative duties which include, the copying and sending of Autopsy and Coroner Summary to families, insurance companies, attorney’s or law enforcement, signing death certificates, answering other requests for old records, filing of reports, meeting with family or other pertinent individuals, record keeping, the updating of operating guidelines, and so forth.