Republican incumbent Cinda Edwards has been taking autopsies to Bloomington to be done with a certified forensic pathologist, as requested by the Sangamon County Board. Her opponent, Jerry Curry, says this increases the time it takes for families to move forward with their grieving.
Edwards says there are very few CFP's and she is working to recruit one to Sangamon County.
"I have a piece here we are distributing, we currently do have a line on someone who is interested in coming to Springfield."
Curry believes Sangamon County should be able to use a pathologist for some autopsies, instead of a CFP.
Curry also used Tuesday's debate to highlight what he says is a need for better record keeping in the office. Former Coroner Susan Boone resigned, in part, because of shoddy and in some cases inaccurate record keeping. Curry points to a September incident.
"It's all handwritten, it's all check marked, it's scribbled on the edges. I don't see where they're using their pads and things like that... I never would have sent this paperwork to this family," says Curry.
Edwards says record keeping has improved since she took office, and the county now uses a hybrid system of paper and web-based record keeping. She looked into going all-electronic some time ago, but thought it would be too expensive.
Curry says records should be all electronic.
You can listen to the entire debate in the Morning Newswatch podcast section of this website.
(posted 4:58 p.m. 10/23/2012 by Alex Degman)