Coroner candidates speak about position

MOSES LAKE - The candidates for the Grant County Coroner

discussed their vision for the position.

The candidates spoke at the Grant County Republican Women's

candidate forum at Pillar Rock Grill.

MOSES LAKE - The candidates for the Grant County Coroner discussed their vision for the position.

The candidates spoke at the Grant County Republican Women's candidate forum at Pillar Rock Grill.

Coroner Dave Matney said he has the experience in law enforcement to perform the position, pointing to his 18 years working in investigation.

"I investigated my first homicide in 1991 and I've conducted investigations in cases of suicide, accidental death, drug overdoses and infant deaths," he said. "I've conducted over 100 investigations of child abuse."

Matney said he has the compassion for the position after dealing with grieving friends and family in the investigations.

"Whether it's the grief of an abused child or the grief of a family who lost a loved one, my number-one priority is to help the victims."

He also noted the office has only spent 56 percent of its budget by the last quarter of 2010, and created a group of volunteer deputy coroners.

Challenger Craig Morrison said he has the medical experience to perform the position. He studied anatomy, physiology and forensic pathology before going to mortuary college.

"Forensic pathology has always been an interest of mine," he said. "I enjoy working with people in the funeral environment, and it's time to make a little bit of a change in my direction."

He feels qualified for the position, saying he has dealt with more than 6,000 decedents. The experience will help him in the job.

He said he's proud to call Moses Lake his home.

"We fell in love with it when we came here in February of 1994," he said. "If you can believe falling in love with a place like this in February, when summer came around I thoroughly loved it."

The candidates were asked what makes them more qualified then the other candidate.

Matney answered that the coroner's job is to conduct a death scene investigation, saying the person transmits his findings to a forensic pathologist if an autopsy is required.

"The forensic pathologist can't go to the scene," he said. "I am a trained scene investigator. I instruct crime scene investigators. I have been to multiple crime scenes over the course of my 18 years as an investigator."

Morrison believes the position is more of a medical position than a detective's position, saying fewer than 3 percent of county deaths have to do with homicide.

"I believe I am qualified as coroner, basically because of the things that I've seen, my medical background in pre-med at Boise State University, the training that I've received, knowing how certain drugs react to the body."