This bill replaces the election of county coroners with appointment by the county legislative authority. Coroners who are elected and serving on the bill’s effective date may complete their current terms; thereafter the county legislative authority must appoint a coroner. In counties with population of 250,000 or more, the county legislative authority may eliminate the coroner office and instead establish an appointed medical examiner system under RCW 36.24.190. Counties may contract with neighboring counties for coroner or medical examiner services under chapter 39.34 RCW. The bill creates a procedural training and certification requirement for coroners, medical examiners, and medicolegal investigative personnel. Full‑time coroners and medicolegal investigative personnel must complete medicolegal forensic investigation training through the medicolegal training academy within 12 months of appointment or employment, and part‑time personnel within 18 months, unless exempted by the commission. The Criminal Justice Training Commission, in conjunction with the Washington Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners and a practicing physician selected by the commission under RCW 43.101.480, must adopt the curriculum, standards, and exemptions, and must certify completion or exemption within 60 days of receiving proof. Certification is a condition of continued employment; counties whose coroners or medical examiners are not certified within 12 months may have reimbursements from the death investigations account reduced under RCW 68.50.104. The training must satisfy specified forensic and protocols standards referenced in RCW 43.103.100 and RCW 43.103.110. The bill also amends county officer salary provisions, updating minimum salary amounts for a range of county elected offices including coroners (with some coroners paid per case as determined by the county legislative authority) across multiple population bands, and provides that the state will pay half the salary of a superior court judge toward an elected prosecuting attorney’s salary while counties must continue at least their 2008 contribution. The coroner was removed from a listed elective‑officer bond requirement. The act includes an emergency clause and takes effect immediately. Some portions of the salary schedule and other referenced amendments or newly created sections are not present in the provided excerpts, so full details for higher population salary bands and any additional new section text are unavailable here.

If enacted, counties will shift from electing coroners to having county legislative authorities appoint them once current elected coroners finish their terms, and counties with 250,000+ people can choose to replace the coroner with an appointed medical examiner. All coroner and medicolegal investigative staff must complete a certified medicolegal forensic investigation training program (standards set by the Criminal Justice Training Commission with the Washington Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners and a physician) within a year of appointment or employment, or face possible reductions in reimbursement from the state death investigations account; part-time staff have a longer deadline. Counties can share coroner/medical examiner services with neighboring counties under interlocal agreements, which may reduce costs or staffing burdens. The bill also updates county salary amounts for many elected officers and requires the state to pay half of a superior court judge’s salary toward a county’s elected prosecuting attorney while counties must at least maintain their 2008 contribution level, so payroll costs and state reimbursements will change for counties. The act takes effect immediately, so counties must act quickly to implement appointment procedures, ensure staff complete required training, and adjust budgets; however, the document here omits salary bands for larger counties and details on the timing or process for counties that choose to adopt a medical examiner system, so the full fiscal impact on some counties is unclear.