KANE COUNTY CORONER OFFICE – THE FIRST YEAR
These are just a few things the Office has been able to accomplish this year-some of them seem rather simple, but were not performed prior to me taking office:
1. Swore in Deputies and Doctors.
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2. Initiated and facilitated the revision of the Suspicious Death and Homicide Protocol.
3. Rejoined activity with the Kane County Police Chief’s Association, Kane County Fire Chiefs, Elder Abuse Task Force and the Kane County DUI Task Force.
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4. Joined the Kane County Major Crimes Task Force (First Time).
5. Complied and cooperated with an in-depth audit performed by the Kane County Auditor that resulted in a favorable finding.
6. Successfully reunited six (6) deceased cremains with family members that had been stored at the Coroner’s Office for a number of years.
7. Due to the generosity, assistance and concern of the St. Charles Township Supervisor, John Anderson, the Kane County Coroner’s Office was able to proper inter the remaining forty-one (41) cremains (which had languished in the coroner’s storage facility for years) at the St. Charles Township Cemetery Mausoleum.
8. Successfully generated and rewrote the Coroner’s Office Policy and Procedure Manual (currently being reviewed by the Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office).
9. Initiated accreditation files with the International Association of Coroner’s and Medical Examiners.
10. Wrote and applied for a $78,000 Grant (although not obtained).
11. Successfully cooperated with the Kane County Health Department in obtaining a $2500.00 grant for Forensic Supplies.
12. Continued with union negotiations, obtaining several successful temporary agreements.
13. Successfully obtained a needed budget increase for the Coroner’s Office, which was desperately needed.
14. Successfully cooperated with the State Treasurer’s Office by initiating the “E-Pay Program” which offers the funeral homes the convenience of paying for Cremation Permit “on-line”.
15. Successfully initiated a Community Outreach Program implementing the use of “Facebook” and “Twitter” at NO COST TO THE TAXPAYERS.
16. Successfully participated in many community events, such as National Night Out, Batavia HS Heroin Forum, South Elgin HS Heroin Forum, BATV Forum on Teen Stress, and other events.
17. Successfully participated in two mock disaster drills: BNSF Railroad and Kane County Health Department.
18. Performed all of the aforementioned initiatives while concurrently handling the most number of death investigations in the Kane County Coroner’s Office history.
Goals For 2014
1. Continue with and successfully negotiate a reasonable contract for the Union employees.
2. Become the first Accredited Coroner’s Office in the State of Illinois.
3. Conclude the discussion for a new facility and have concrete plans to move forward.
4. Continue to educate the County Board and the rest of the public on the function, authority and importance of having a fully functional Office of the Coroner.
5. Maintain the highest quality of standards in every Medicolegal Death Investigation that we perform.
6. Obtain more grants.
7. Fiscally run the office with the most efficiency possible.
8. Initiate a Coroner’s Needs Advisory Group to assist me in efficiently composing a reasonable list of items that need to be replaced or purchased, as well as any other need the office may have.
9. Perform any function that will represent the motto of this office: Serve the living while respecting the deceased.
