Nov 19, 2017 4 min read

Back in 1857, when Pennsylvania’s James Buchanan was settling in for his tumultuous White House tenure and Americans were quarreling about slavery, the American Medical Association made the following recommendation when it came to local coroners:

“This method of filling the office will be more successful in securing the selection of one having the special attainments demanded for the faithful and intelligent performance of its duties than by popular election. Amid the strife and excitement of politics and predilections of party, those special attainments cannot be expected to be regarded with sufficient care.”

Stripping away the Victorian era circumlocutions, the point the American Medical Association was trying to make is that coroners should not be elected, but should instead be appointed, so qualified candidates hold the office.

In 160 years, we’ve gone from the horse and buggy to driverless cars, and yet coroners are still elected in many places, including in Washington and Greene counties. While the see-sawing coroner’s contest in Greene County is certainly interesting – last week, Republican challenger Gene Rush led by just four votes over Democratic incumbent Gregory Rohanna after a count of absentee ballots – it eclipses the larger question of why there are partisan elections for county coroner in the first place.

Should it really matter whether a Democrat or Republican is called out in the middle of the night to an accident scene to pronounce someone dead?

For that matter, why do many Pennsylvania counties also elect prothonotaries and clerks of courts? Is it really germane that a Democrat or Republican manages court documents? Putting aside the district attorney’s office, wouldn’t it be better if the occupants of row offices were appointed rather than elected? We think so.

Some counties in Pennsylvania have already gone in this direction. In the 1970s, voters in Northampton County, in the eastern part of the commonwealth, did away with the three-commissioner form of county government, and made the coroner, sheriff and the row officers appointed positions. And under Allegheny County’s home rule charter, the recorder of deeds, register of wills and other row offices are appointed rather than elected.

Jim Roddey, the former Allegheny County executive, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “It takes the politics out of those offices. None of them really have a political function – they’re all administrative positions. There’s no reason they should continue to be elected.”

Proponents of having elections for county coroners and prothonotaries contend that it disperses power within local governments, preventing commissioners from wielding too much power. They also say that row officers are held accountable for their work by having to go before voters. But, short of a serious scandal breaking out, voters really don’t know how well row officers are doing their jobs, and, let’s face it, they probably don’t have the time or energy to care. In low-turnout, off-year elections, they’ll likely pull the lever for the incumbent, vote along party lines or cast a ballot for someone whose signs or ads they’ve seen.

It should also be noted that no skills are necessary in order to be elected to row offices. In Pennsylvania, for instance, a coroner does not have to be a medical professional, and a recorder of deeds need not be troubled by any kind of background in records management.

Having elections for coroners or other row offices might have once been a handy tool to keep nepotism or patronage at bay, but it now seems hopelessly anachronistic. Row offices would be better filled by certified professionals who have gone through the interview process and have solid track records to offer. We’re betting it would make our counties run more efficiently and offer taxpayers better value for their money.