Allegheny County will end a practice next month that dates to 12th-century England.

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Dr. Cyril Wecht, left, meets with forensic pathologist assistant Jacob Pietrzak in the autopsy room at the coroner's office in 1999. Click photo for larger image.

The coroner's office, established to investigate unexplained or violent deaths, determine their cause and recommend whether someone should be criminally charged with causing the death, will cease to exist.

But despite voters' deciding in May to replace the elected coroner with an appointed medical examiner, the county seems in no hurry to make the change.

The term of Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, a nationally respected forensic pathologist, ends Dec. 31. County Manager Jim Flynn said the county had made no decision on whether to offer Dr. Wecht the job as medical examiner or seek applicants for the post.

Chief Executive Dan Onorato will focus on that situation, as well as replacing the elected jury commissioners with appointees, between now and the end of the year. Other than Dr. Wecht, personnel will remain in place to keep the medical examiner's office operating.

"We're going to develop a transition plan," Mr. Flynn said. "It's mostly a paper change anyway. The systems that are in place and the very professional people who are in place aren't going to go away."

The transition to a medical examiner in Allegheny County shouldn't be difficult. That's because Dr. Wecht, who has served more than 19 years in two stints, and Dr. Joshua Perper, who served 13 years between Dr. Wecht's two stretches, are forensic pathologists who are trained to investigate deaths and have brought other professionals into the office over the years.

That level of expertise, though, has been mostly fortunate happenstance because state law establishes few criteria or qualifications for elected coroners. In many counties, the elected coroner is a funeral home director with no medical training who contracts with a medical professional to conduct autopsies and develop forensic evidence to determine how and why someone died.

Allegheny County adopted a home rule charter five years ago which changed the system of government from three elected commissioners to an elected chief executive and 15-member elected county council. One long-range goal of the government study commission was to eliminate many of the row offices and consolidate them as appointed positions under the chief executive.

In May, voters agreed to eliminate the register of wills, recorder of deeds, coroner, prothonotary, clerk of courts and jury commissioners as their terms expire. The terms for coroner and jury commissioners expire this year; the others, two years hence.

Royal decision

The coroner job dates to 1194, when Richard the Lionhearted ruled England. It was established purely for financial reasons.

At that time, anyone responsible for the death of someone else forfeited his money, goods and property to the king. Before Richard changed the system, the chief law enforcement officers were elected sheriffs, who often were ruthless people who would declare deaths questionable and blame people for them solely to confiscate their property and money.

In many instances, the sheriffs turned in confiscated items only after siphoning off a portion for themselves.

The system worked reasonably well until Richard began spending much of his time away from England, fighting in the Crusades. That proved to be such an expensive campaign that he could no longer afford to have sheriffs take a share of confiscated items.

In September 1194, he issued what was known as the Articles of Eyre. That established that each county would have three elected knights and one elected clerk who would "keep the pleas of the crown," in other words, hear minor cases and collect confiscated items.

The knights had to be rich men so that they would be more likely to turn the items over to the king rather than keep them. The Latin word for crown was "corona," which became coroner.

Over the next few centuries, the system became corrupt, and coroners were replaced by appointed, qualified medical examiners, but not before the elected coroner system was brought to America in the 1600s.

In the United States, the coroner's office was used exclusively until 1877, when Boston established the first medical examiner's office. Across the country, many jurisdictions have switched to a medical examiner who is appointed to a specific term in office to make the job more professional and less political.

National reputation

The Allegheny County coroner's office has built a national reputation for the way it conducts autopsies, investigates cases, computerizes records and trains pathologists. But the office has been steeped in controversy over the years.

In the 1970s, Dr. Wecht was acquitted of criminal charges that he illegally performed private work at the coroner's office. He later lost a protracted civil case and was ordered to pay the county a surcharge of $252,416, but, after more than 10 years, the case was settled for $200,000.

When Dr. Wecht was elected county commissioner in 1980, the governor appointed Dr. Sanford Edberg to replace him. Dr. Perper, who had been acting coroner, refused to leave and got into a shoving match with Dr. Edberg in front of newspaper and television cameras.

Dr. Perper defeated Dr. Edberg in the next election and held the office until 1994, when he was hired as medical examiner in Broward County, Fla., the area around Fort Lauderdale.

Dr. Wecht returned to the coroner's office after the next election in 1996. This year, Dr. Wecht's office has been embroiled in an investigation by the U.S. attorney's office looking into whether he illegally mixed private and public business.

He's also been involved in a public dispute with District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. over the need for open inquests, in which Mr. Zappala's office has refused to participate. All inquests, once a primary function of the coroner's office, are being handled by district judges.

Although no one has said publicly, Dr. Wecht's controversial background could make Mr. Onorato reluctant to name him medical examiner. The county hasn't reached the point of considering candidates, Mr. Flynn said, and still is developing details such as qualifications, a salary range, limits on outside work and whether the medical examiner would work on an extended contract or at the whim of the county manager.

Dr. Wecht could not be reached for comment.

Perper backs appointment

Dr. Perper, who has the perspective of having worked as coroner here and as medical examiner in Florida, said the operation of the office probably wouldn't be much different. But he favors appointment of a qualified medical examiner to avoid the possibility of voters choosing someone who "has attractions other than being a skilled forensic pathologist."

"No one system is better than the other," Dr. Perper said. "With an appointed medical examiner, the choice is not left at the whim of the voters."

In Florida, county medical examiners are appointed by the governor based on recommendations from a review commission. They receive a three-year contract ranging from $120,000 to $200,000 a year. They can perform private work only in counties outside the area they serve.

Before the end of a term, the review commission solicits feedback from local police, prosecutors, defense attorneys and medical society members on the quality of the medical examiner's work to determine whether he should receive a new contract.

Although the medical examiner has no real subpoena power, as an elected coroner does, Dr. Perper said he worked closely with police and prosecutors to investigate suspicious deaths.

If he has difficulty obtaining information from people, the prosecutor can take them before a grand jury to compel testimony.

"Pretty much, I am doing the same type of investigations I did in Pittsburgh," Dr. Perper said. "The only difference is it's not so much public. It is more in the background.

"There is no [functional] difference, really. Obviously, the medical examiner is an independent office. I think it's a good system."