Coroner 2024 Budget

To satisfy the legal requirements of the office in an expeditious manner.

The Coroner is responsible for determining the cause and manner of death of all persons in Mesa County who die under any of the following circumstances:

• from disease which may be hazardous or contagious or which may constitute a threat to the health of the general public;
• from external violence, an unexplained cause, or under suspicious circumstances;
• where no physician is in attendance, or where, though in attendance, the physician is unable to certify the cause of death;
• from thermal, chemical, or radiation injury;
• from criminal abortion;
• while in the custody of law enforcement officials or while incarcerated in a public institution;
• when the death was sudden and happened to a person who was in good health;
• from an industrial accident; or,
• when death occurs in a hospital less than 24 hours after admission or after any invasive procedure.

The Coroner’s Office investigates and establishes the manner of death as natural, accident, homicide, suicide, or undetermined. An autopsy may be required depending upon the circumstances of the death. The Coroner’s Office also contacts family members, police agencies, health care professionals, and the public through the media, and assists mortuaries in facilitating the prompt release of a decedent for a funeral or other arrangements for the family.

1. The national forensic organization that oversees forensic pathologists and death investigation systems in the US is the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME). NAME provides accreditation facilities and being accredited ensures the public that the organization is performing quality work in a safe manner. Currently, the pathology service (The Pathology Group) has NAME accreditation and a goal for 2024 and into 2025 is for the Mesa County Coroner's Office to come under this accreditation status.
2. All current Deputy Coroner/Investigators who have been with the office for one year or longer should be certified or in the process of being certified by the national medicolegal death investigator organization which is the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators (ABMDI).
3. Provide the completed annual report by March 1 of each year.

Total Budget

Authorized Staffing Level

2022 Final - 2024 Adopted: 6