Clallam commissioners put together a coroner committee

Published 4:55 pm Monday, April 27, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Clallam County staff are getting a screening committee ready for the appointment of a coroner.

Bonnie Dennler, director of Human Resources & Risk Management, told the three county commissioners on Monday about the process being formulated for the commissioners to appoint the coroner.

The state Legislature changed the law in 2024 so that prosecuting attorneys could no longer serve as county coroners — as prosecuting attorney Mark Nichols had done for years. Because of that, Clallam County District Court 1 Judge David Neupert took up the position in January 2025 while the county’s Charter Review Commission recommended a vote on whether to have the county appoint a coroner.

Voters approved the change last November, so the county has been working to get the position ready, first by adopting an ordinance on March 31 which created the office of the county coroner.

Part of that ordinance states the county commissioners review and select a screening committee as well as direct any criteria used for the recruitment of the coroner, Dennler said Monday.

“So at this time, HR has gone through and created a job description that will be used in the recruitment itself and the strategy that will be used for the coroner,” she said.

Dennler brought recommendations to the commissioners for who should serve on the screening committee, including herself, Neupert, Nichols and county Administrator Todd Mielke.

“My goal is to make this as easy for individuals on the committee to go through from the screening standpoint,” Dennler said. “So I’ll have a really specified matrix that’s really all that they’re going through and reviewing, and then those initial interviews prior to bringing individuals forward to the commissioners.”

While the screening committee will a make a recommendation for appointment, the commissioners will ultimately decide who gets the job, Mielke said.

The only additional person the commissioners suggested for the screening committee was Sheriff Brian King.

Dennler then discussed the screening criteria recommendation, which she said she worked on with Neupert.

“One of the things that we did ensure we did is with the education and experience,” Dennler said. “So making sure that there was an open for equivalency that was allotted there in discussions in terms, and then also in looking at the requirement of the certification through the American Board (of Medico-legal Death Investigation). … We wanted to make sure that we were being thoughtful of individuals that may have got all of the necessary education and experience but not through a traditional sense as well.”

If someone has a master’s degree, they would be expected to have 10 years of experience, while someone with a bachelor’s degree would need to have 12 years of experience.

“Just making sure that we didn’t have any inadvertent impact to individuals that didn’t maybe go up through a traditional sense, but still being qualified,” Dennler said.

The screening criteria exceeds what would be expected of a coroner chosen through the election process, Mielke said.

“My understanding is, in most counties that have an elected coroner, the only thing you’ve got to do is be able to complete the state certification within 12 months,” he said. “So you don’t have to have it coming in the door. You don’t have to have a background in biology, forensic science, anything like that.”

The recommended screening criteria also include managerial experience, public relations experience, knowledge of state and local laws regarding death investigations and the ability to work various shifts, which could include overnights, weekends or on-call.

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Reporter Emily Hanson can be reached by email at emily.hanson@peninsuladailynews.com.