Frequently Asked Questions

Coroners are elected lay people who often do not have professional training, whereas medical examiners are appointed and have board-certification in a medical specialty.
The Office of the Medical Examiner of Cook County is the only medical examiner system in Illinois and covers half the population of the state.  The rest of Illinois has coroners. Within 30 days of assuming office, a coroner must apply for admission to the Illinois Law Enforcement Training Standards Board coroners training program to be completed within 6 months. 

The responsibilities of the Coroner are to ensure that the proper scientific studies are performed:

• Autopsy
• Toxicology tests
• Microscopic examinations
• Bacteriology
• X-rays
• Fingerprinting
• Taking and gathering reports
• Notification of death to families
• On-scene investigation
• Photographing
• Transportation of victims assuring chain of evidence security
• Evidence collecting
• Dental examination and identification
• Meeting with survivors
• Presiding at inquests
• Issuance of Death Certificates and Cremation Permits

Cooperating with:

• Medical agencies
• Funeral Directors
• Law enforcement agencies
• Fire & Rescue Departments

And others…

Reference: https://www.lakecountyil.gov/717/Coroners-Responsibilities

Coroners need to:

Communicate

• Write clearly so other people can understand.
• Understand spoken information.
• Read and understand work-related materials.
• Understand written information.
• Speak clearly so listeners can understand.
• Listen to others and ask questions.

Reason and Problem Solving

• Analyze ideas and use logic to determine their strengths and weaknesses.
• Use reasoning to discover answers to problems.
• Combine several pieces of information and draw conclusions.
• Follow guidelines to arrange objects or actions in a certain order.
• Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong.
• Judge the costs and benefits of a possible action.
• Understand new information or materials by studying and working with them.
• Recognize the nature of a problem.
• Develop rules that group items in various ways.
• Make sense of information that seems without meaning or organization.
• Concentrate and not be distracted while performing a task.
• Think of new ideas about a topic.
• Think of original, unusual, or creative ways to solve problems.

Use Math and Science

• Use scientific methods to solve problems.

Manage oneself, people, time, and things

• Check how well one is learning or doing something.
• Manage the time of self and others.

Work with People

• Be aware of others’ reactions and understand the possible causes.
• Change behavior in relation to others’ actions.
• Look for ways to help people.
• Use several methods to learn or teach new things.
• Teach others how to do something.

Perceive and Visualize

• Identify a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in distracting material.
• Quickly and accurately compare letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns.
• Imagine how something will look if it is moved around or its parts are rearranged.

Reference: Illinois Career Information System (CIS) brought to you by Illinois Department of Employment Security.