After Bonneville County Coroner Rick Taylor resigned this week, Bingham County Deputy Coroner Shante Sanchez, who lives in Bonneville County, began making plans to pursue her passion and run to be Bonneville County’s next coroner. She has a Master of Science degree in Forensic Psychology and is currently working on her Medicolegal Death Investigator Certification.

Generally, after a county elected official resigns before their term is completed, their party’s leadership will pick three candidates to fill the vacancy. Accordingly, the Bonneville Republican Committee met Thursday, Nov. 14, and decided to interview potential candidates at a special meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3 starting at 6 p.m. at the police annex on D St. in Idaho Falls. This is an open meeting for the public, but only the 50 precinct committee officers will choose the three candidates.

After that vote, the Bonneville County Commissioners will meet to choose the next coroner. Since Taylor’s last day will be Dec. 28, it looks like they will have a coroner in time. And because he will have served about half of his term, according to the Secretary of State’s legal department, his replacement will be appointed to finish out his 4-year term that ends in December of 2026.

Because coroners need to be elected by the people, according to state law, Taylor’s replacement will then be voted on in the May Primary and Election Day of November 2026, the year for county officials’ elections.

Often there is a question as to why the coroner is an elected position. There are several reasons for the coroner to stand independently as an elected official, but it takes understanding what a coroner does to realize why.

For every person who dies, there needs to be someone who declares on the death certificate the “time, cause, and manner” of death. That can be a doctor, but usually, they prefer a coroner to provide the declaration.

To determine how and when a person died, it takes an investigation, one that often takes the coroner 8-15 hours to complete. The investigation usually includes talking with the family, viewing the death scene, gathering and counting medications, examining the deceased for clues, and contacting the person’s medical provider. This investigation is sometimes also accompanied by autopsy and toxicology findings.

Law enforcement officers also investigate, but their focus is on a different purpose. They are primarily determining if the death was a homicide. Even though law enforcement’s parallel investigation has a different focus, it serves a second purpose — to be a check and balance to the coroner’s investigation. If the two parallel investigations are seriously conflicting it raises a red flag, and further action is required to discover the truth of the situation.

Additionally, both kinds of investigations are necessary to provide a full picture of what happened, which can then assist the deceased’s family in their grieving. As Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts says, he “serves the living and the dead by helping to write the deceased’s final chapter.” One of the lesser-known roles of a coroner is consoling the surviving families in their suffering. Having a clearer picture of what happened can help them in their grieving process.

As to why it is an elected office is also partly to preserve the independence needed for investigations. Whether an autopsy or toxicology screen is ordered should come from the investigation findings, not from the budget bottom line that overseeing commissioners or sheriffs might use to make those decisions. It is also important that a coroner stands separate and is assured he won’t lose his job if the commissioners or sheriff disagree with his findings.

An elected coroner is another check and balance on the Sheriff, not just their investigations. The only person that can arrest a sheriff is a coroner. And the only person that can act as sheriff, if no chief deputy can do so, is the coroner. To have such authority the coroner needs the mandate of the citizens via being voted into office. As citizens we choose who serves and protects the living — and we choose who serves and protects those that have died and their families.

Should Sanchez realize her dream to be a county coroner, it will then be Bingham County’s turn to begin looking for another dedicated, knowledgeable deputy coroner.