COEUR d’ALENE — The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office no longer accepts autopsy cases from Kootenai County, ending a decades-long working relationship over allegations that the Kootenai County Coroner’s Office is “actively working against” the agency and leaving the coroner’s office scrambling. 

Kootenai County Coroner Dr. Duke Johnson said the allegations are false.

“This is a 30-year relationship that (the Spokane County Medical Examiner) is ending without allowing us to respond or present our side of the story,” he told The Press. “We have been working extremely hard and fast to determine what our alternatives are.” 

In Idaho, elected coroners are responsible for investigating deaths that occur under certain circumstances and determining the cause of death. No state medical examiner’s office handles these death investigations, so many county coroners contract with the Ada County Coroner’s Office, which is home to the state's only forensic pathologists. 

Until recently, Kootenai County contracted with the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office for these services, sending about 70 cases to Spokane each year at a cost of about $2,000 per autopsy. 

That working relationship changed Dec. 15, when Spokane County Medical Examiner Dr. Veena Singh emailed Kootenai County Coroner Dr. Duke Johnson. 

“I have recently learned that one of your deputy coroners has been working closely with a disgruntled former employee of the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office to destabilize our office operations,” Singh wrote. “While of course your staff can act as they please and associate with whom they please, I am sure you can understand that I am not willing to spend SMCEO time and resources on assisting an office that is actively working against us.” 

For that reason, Singh wrote, the agreement between the two agencies would end, and her office would no longer accept cases from Kootenai County as of Jan. 15. The contract allows either party to terminate the agreement for any reason upon 30 days’ notice. 

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office did not respond to multiple requests for comment. 

In an emailed response to Singh, Johnson said he was “greatly surprised” by her assertion. 

“I have just spoken with the employee here that you are probably referring to and he absolutely denies that he has been ‘working closely’ with this disgruntled former employee as you have stated or even working with her at all,” Johnson wrote on Dec. 15. “He has not made any statements to union representatives. He has done nothing to support her defense in any way.” 

The nature of the dispute between the former employee and the medical examiner’s office is unclear. Johnson said the individual who works for him knows the former employee socially but isn’t involved in the dispute. 

After Johnson requested a meeting to discuss the matter, emails show that Singh indicated she needed guidance from the Spokane County Board of County Commissioners on how to proceed. The board next meets Jan. 6. 

“In that light, will you please consider extending acceptance of autopsies until the end of January so that we have time to adjust if necessary?” Johnson wrote in a Dec. 22 email. 

Hours later, Singh replied. 

“Sorry, but for the sake of simplicity we will not accept any cases after the expiration of our interlocal agreement on December 31,” she wrote. 

Outside of Spokane, the nearest medical examiners are in Seattle and Missoula. Johnson said both offices have declined to take Kootenai County cases due to high volume. 

“They’re overwhelmed and can’t take our cases,” he said. 

The Ada County Coroner’s Office is willing, Johnson said, but sending cases to Boise is prohibitively expensive. 

This week, Kootenai County commissioners authorized an emergency expenditure of up to $40,000 to retrofit an existing space for autopsies. The funds, pulled from money already allocated to the coroner’s office for a planned construction project, will be used to pay for equipment such as beds and lighting and to get the place running. 

“I think Dr. Johnson is going to do a great job with this,” Commissioner Marc Eberlein said. “I’m all for this.” 

Since 2023, Johnson has championed a project to remodel and expand the coroner’s office in Dalton Gardens, to end Kootenai County’s reliance on Spokane County for autopsies. The remodeled facility would have suitable space for autopsies, and the county would contract with medical examiners to perform them there. 

Johnson said he came to believe the renovation was necessary about two years ago, after Spokane County cut back on the number of autopsies it performed for Kootenai County and other counties in Washington. 

“We were going in this direction because we knew something like this might occur someday,” Johnson said. 

For now, Kootenai County is without medical examiner services. Johnson said the end of the relationship with the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office decreases his office’s ability to investigate deaths, including murders and accidental deaths, and to hold people accountable for causing deaths. 

“If we have a terrific police force and if we have a terrific judicial system, they’re not operable unless they have evidence to present in court,” he said. “The evidence comes from our office, significantly.” 

Johnson said his office has already found medical examiners willing to contract with Kootenai County and perform autopsies in a retrofitted space. 

“We’re going to be fine as a county because many people have come to our assistance,” he said. 

    Singh