qualification

Qualifications

45-16-1 G

45-16-1.

(a) Coroners are elected, commissioned, and removed as are clerks of
the superior courts; and coroners shall hold their offices for four
years.

(b)(1) No person shall be eligible to offer for election to or to
hold the office of coroner unless he or she:

   (A) Is a citizen of the United States;

   (B) Is a resident of the county in which he or she seeks the
   office of coroner for at least two years prior to his or her
   qualifying for the election to the office and remains a resident
   of such county during his or her term of office;
Annotation:
     The residency requirement refers to domicile. There must be either the tacit or explicit
     intention to change one’s domicile before one can change his legal residence. If a person
     leaves the place of his domicile temporarily, or for a particular purpose, and does
     not take up an actual residence elsewhere with the avowed intention of making a change
     in his domicile, he will not be considered as having changed his domicile. Haggard v.
     Graham, 142 Ga. App. 498, 236 S.E.2d 92 (1977).

   (C) Is a registered voter;

   (D) Has attained the age of 25 years prior to the date of the
   general primary in the year he or she qualifies for election to
   the office;

   (E) Has obtained a high school diploma or its recognized
   equivalent. This subparagraph shall not apply to any person
   serving as a coroner on July 1, 1980;

   (F) Has not been convicted of a felony offense or any offense
   involving moral turpitude contrary to the laws of this state,
   any other state, or the United States; and

   (G) Has successfully completed the next scheduled class no
   longer than 180 days after such person's election or appointment
   a basic training course provided by the Georgia Police Academy,
   but the affidavit required by paragraph (2) of this subsection
   shall not be required to affirm that the requirements of this
   subparagraph have been met at the time of qualifying for the
   office of coroner.

Some people seek the office of coroner based on their medical training as a nurse being an advantage to serve this
office. Here are some reasons as to why I don't believe it is a necessary qualification.
1.)        On all the death investigations I have ever attended, a nursing degree has never been something I felt
would have helped me perform my duties.
2.)        When we do have medical questions that need to be answered we have, at any time needed, 14 licensed
Pathologist who are employeed by the Georgia Bureau of Investigations that are more than qualified to answer any
questions that may arise.
3.)        Pickens County is currently districted with the Summerville Crime Lab in Summerville, Ga. Dr. William Oliver
is the Pathologist assigned to this crime lab. Dr. Oliver completed his undergraduate degree in molecular biology in
1978 at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. He received his medical degree from the Vanderbilt
University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee in 1982. From 1982 to 1990, Dr. Oliver simultaneously
worked on his residency, fellowship, and master's degree. During this time he held the positions of resident in
pathology (University of North Carolina - North Carolina Memorial Hospital), fellow in forensic pathology (University
of North - Children's Hospital), Assistant Chief Medical Examiner for the State of North Carolina, and medical
examiner (Orange County, North Carolina).

He earned a master's degree in computer science from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina in 1990. From 1991 to 2003, he served as a deputy medical examiner with the Office of the Armed Forces
Medical Examiner under the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Oliver joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation in 2003 as the Northwest Regional Medical Examiner based
out of Trion, Georgia. He has a special interest in computer science, specifically digital imaging and data processing
techniques applied to pathology.
4.)        Coroner's duties are more like an investigators. We are on the scene gathering information including but
not limited to medical records and medical history that assists us in determining the cause and manner of death.
We are an extention of the GBI's Medical Examiner system.

Is Medical Training Necessary