Idaho Seeks to Improve Its Troubled Coroner System and Lagging Child Autopsy Rates
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Idaho is taking steps to bolster its antiquated coroner system following stories by ProPublica that documented how lawmakers have repeatedly failed to fix problems that harm grieving families.
An advisory panel created last year at the request of Gov. Brad Little is developing legislation to require autopsies in a variety of circumstances, including the unexplained death of a child. It would help coroners pay for those autopsies as long as they get a national certification that proves they can meet certain standards.
The legislation would mimic a similar setup in neighboring Washington. An increase in fees on Idaho death certificates would finance the autopsy reimbursements.
A ProPublica review of hundreds of death records in 2024 found that some coroners failed to meet national standards when investigating child and infant deaths, and a state oversight report found Idaho ranked last in the U.S. for autopsies when children or infants died unexpectedly. The state Office of Performance Evaluations cited poor funding as a major problem.
ProPublica’s examination of training records for Idaho coroners also revealed that many failed to get the hours of continuing education required by state law. Further reporting in 2025 examined how potentially suspicious deaths can slip through the cracks of Idaho’s poorly funded system.
The committee working on the legislation includes seven county coroners and a deputy coroner; representatives of city, county and state law enforcement agencies; a deputy county prosecutor; a county commissioner and a tribal member.
Kelli Brassfield, co-chair of the panel and a lobbyist who represents Idaho’s county governments, cautioned that the proposal likely won’t be ready during the 2026 annual legislative session. But this is the first time in decades that coroners and other local and state officials have agreed on a path forward to improve Idaho’s system for investigating death.
Idaho’s death investigation system is almost entirely funded by counties, and county officials have fought past efforts to require autopsies, which can cost thousands of dollars apiece. At the committee’s meeting in January, Brent Mendenhall, a commissioner from Madison County, was enthusiastic about the draft legislation and the push for more autopsies.
“When I hear that a commission or any county has turned down an autopsy, it just makes me shudder,” Mendenhall said at the meeting. “I just think, ‘What are you doing to that family that doesn’t know what happened?’”
Mendenhall said that under the legislation being developed, coroners who have struggled with a small autopsy budget could approach their county commissioners and say, “Here’s the law, and you need to make sure that I can do this.”
The advisory panel working on legislation is co-chaired by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Boise Democrat. Wintrow said ProPublica’s reporting raised awareness of the harms done by a faulty system for death investigations.
“Here’s the system going wrong, and your reporting shines a light on it,” she said.
Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts, a member of the panel, told ProPublica that Wintrow has said repeatedly that one of the motivators to get …
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Idaho is taking steps to bolster its antiquated coroner system following stories by ProPublica that documented how lawmakers have repeatedly failed to fix problems that harm grieving families.
An advisory panel created last year at the request of Gov. Brad Little is developing legislation to require autopsies in a variety of circumstances, including the unexplained death of a child. It would help coroners pay for those autopsies as long as they get a national certification that proves they can meet certain standards.
The legislation would mimic a similar setup in neighboring Washington. An increase in fees on Idaho death certificates would finance the autopsy reimbursements.
A ProPublica review of hundreds of death records in 2024 found that some coroners failed to meet national standards when investigating child and infant deaths, and a state oversight report found Idaho ranked last in the U.S. for autopsies when children or infants died unexpectedly. The state Office of Performance Evaluations cited poor funding as a major problem.
ProPublica’s examination of training records for Idaho coroners also revealed that many failed to get the hours of continuing education required by state law. Further reporting in 2025 examined how potentially suspicious deaths can slip through the cracks of Idaho’s poorly funded system.
The committee working on the legislation includes seven county coroners and a deputy coroner; representatives of city, county and state law enforcement agencies; a deputy county prosecutor; a county commissioner and a tribal member.
Kelli Brassfield, co-chair of the panel and a lobbyist who represents Idaho’s county governments, cautioned that the proposal likely won’t be ready during the 2026 annual legislative session. But this is the first time in decades that coroners and other local and state officials have agreed on a path forward to improve Idaho’s system for investigating death.
Idaho’s death investigation system is almost entirely funded by counties, and county officials have fought past efforts to require autopsies, which can cost thousands of dollars apiece. At the committee’s meeting in January, Brent Mendenhall, a commissioner from Madison County, was enthusiastic about the draft legislation and the push for more autopsies.
“When I hear that a commission or any county has turned down an autopsy, it just makes me shudder,” Mendenhall said at the meeting. “I just think, ‘What are you doing to that family that doesn’t know what happened?’”
Mendenhall said that under the legislation being developed, coroners who have struggled with a small autopsy budget could approach their county commissioners and say, “Here’s the law, and you need to make sure that I can do this.”
The advisory panel working on legislation is co-chaired by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Boise Democrat. Wintrow said ProPublica’s reporting raised awareness of the harms done by a faulty system for death investigations.
“Here’s the system going wrong, and your reporting shines a light on it,” she said.
Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts, a member of the panel, told ProPublica that Wintrow has said repeatedly that one of the motivators to get …
Idaho Seeks to Improve Its Troubled Coroner System and Lagging Child Autopsy Rates
Equal justice apparently isn't equal anymore.
Idaho is taking steps to bolster its antiquated coroner system following stories by ProPublica that documented how lawmakers have repeatedly failed to fix problems that harm grieving families.
An advisory panel created last year at the request of Gov. Brad Little is developing legislation to require autopsies in a variety of circumstances, including the unexplained death of a child. It would help coroners pay for those autopsies as long as they get a national certification that proves they can meet certain standards.
The legislation would mimic a similar setup in neighboring Washington. An increase in fees on Idaho death certificates would finance the autopsy reimbursements.
A ProPublica review of hundreds of death records in 2024 found that some coroners failed to meet national standards when investigating child and infant deaths, and a state oversight report found Idaho ranked last in the U.S. for autopsies when children or infants died unexpectedly. The state Office of Performance Evaluations cited poor funding as a major problem.
ProPublica’s examination of training records for Idaho coroners also revealed that many failed to get the hours of continuing education required by state law. Further reporting in 2025 examined how potentially suspicious deaths can slip through the cracks of Idaho’s poorly funded system.
The committee working on the legislation includes seven county coroners and a deputy coroner; representatives of city, county and state law enforcement agencies; a deputy county prosecutor; a county commissioner and a tribal member.
Kelli Brassfield, co-chair of the panel and a lobbyist who represents Idaho’s county governments, cautioned that the proposal likely won’t be ready during the 2026 annual legislative session. But this is the first time in decades that coroners and other local and state officials have agreed on a path forward to improve Idaho’s system for investigating death.
Idaho’s death investigation system is almost entirely funded by counties, and county officials have fought past efforts to require autopsies, which can cost thousands of dollars apiece. At the committee’s meeting in January, Brent Mendenhall, a commissioner from Madison County, was enthusiastic about the draft legislation and the push for more autopsies.
“When I hear that a commission or any county has turned down an autopsy, it just makes me shudder,” Mendenhall said at the meeting. “I just think, ‘What are you doing to that family that doesn’t know what happened?’”
Mendenhall said that under the legislation being developed, coroners who have struggled with a small autopsy budget could approach their county commissioners and say, “Here’s the law, and you need to make sure that I can do this.”
The advisory panel working on legislation is co-chaired by Sen. Melissa Wintrow, a Boise Democrat. Wintrow said ProPublica’s reporting raised awareness of the harms done by a faulty system for death investigations.
“Here’s the system going wrong, and your reporting shines a light on it,” she said.
Bingham County Coroner Jimmy Roberts, a member of the panel, told ProPublica that Wintrow has said repeatedly that one of the motivators to get …
