Kane County Coroner's Office: Maintaining Accreditation and Improvement of the Workforce

The purpose of the Kane County Coroner’s Office: Maintaining Accreditation and Improvement of the Workforce proposed project is to ultimately establish a more appropriate workload for Deputy Coroners and maintain IAC&ME Accreditation standards. The Kane County Coroner’s Office had to eliminate an autopsy technician position in 2022 due to budgetary restrictions. Therefore, the Deputy Coroners have been forced to take over the work previously allocated to said position, in addition to their investigative, case-related, and previously established collateral duties within the office. To combat this massive workload, this project proposes to hire a full-time Morgue Assistant to offset the excessive duties currently demanded of Deputy Coroners. The Morgue Assistant will be trained in and eventually assume all morgue-related responsibilities from the Deputy Coroners, including but not limited to: assisting forensic pathologists during autopsy; morgue-related cleaning, stocking, and ordering; sharps and hazardous waste handling; and intake and releasing of decedents and their property. Additionally, the Morgue Assistant will be working with the Compliance and Special Projects Coordinator to update and maintain policies, procedures, and practices relating to accreditation standards, as the Kane County Coroner’s Office does not currently have a staff member designated for this duty.

By implementing this project, Deputy Coroners will have a vast increase in the time available for investigative and case-related duties, and the Kane County Coroner’s Office will successfully achieve re-accreditation in 2025. Deputy Coroners will be able to minimize the backlog of casework, which will in turn allow for the timelier completion and closing of cases, as well as provide much-needed relief from the stress Deputy Coroners experience when inundated with work. Additionally, with more time available to Deputy Coroners, they can attend relevant training and continuing education, a necessity for the dynamic and evolving nature of the work performed by a Coroner’s Office. With this, Deputy Coroners will be capable of carrying out more thorough and timely investigations, and also experience a much-needed break from high work-stress levels. This proposed project is not only beneficial to Deputy Coroners, but is also invaluable to the communities that the Kane County Coroner’s Office serves and is a key piece of maintaining IAC&ME accreditation.