The Marshall County Council approved a recommendation from the personnel committee to include a job description for the chief deputy coroner in the handbook, a task that has been pending for a long time.
The position description submitted includes duties, job requirements, responsibilities, and physical effort. The chief deputy coroner is a part-time position and is appointed by the coroner. The appointee is responsible for assisting in investigating and certifying cause and manner of death in any suspicious, unusual or unnatural human death.
The duties include investigations, witness interviews and responses to family inquiries, determines the need for an autopsy and specimen draws as well as necessary documents. The chief deputy coroner is also responsible for the chain of custody of evidence and personal effects. He or she may also need to testify in legal proceedings if required.
A high school diploma or GED is required along with the ability to obtain and maintain required certifications, such as an Indiana Coroner’s Training Board Certification, within one year of appointment.
Coroner Bill Cleavenger and a representative of the personnel committee presented the document to the handbook that was unanimously passed. Cleavenger has appointed Bridget Hite as the chief deputy coroner.
