Two seeking Butler County Coroner position

Butler County voters will decide Tuesday during the Republican primary who will serve as their coroner for the next four years.

Incumbent Andy Moore is seeking reelection to his second term as coroner. He is being challenged by his predecessor, Jim Akers.

Each candidate was asked the same six questions. Information appears in ballot order.

Moore

Andy Moore

Describing himself as dedicated to his position of coroner, Andy Moore says he wants to continue running the office with the same “high standard” as he has for the last four years.

“I feel that the high standard in which I have run the office, worked with law enforcement and cared for the deceased and families, this is how the office should be continued,” Moore said.

Having served as coroner from 2017-2020, Moore said, he feels he and his deputy coroners are “answering every call and fulfilling all the duties required.

“ ... We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and all holidays.”

Moore said he and his deputy coroners “take pride in the work that we do, and we hope the citizens see our dedication and work for the community.”

Annually, Moore said, he has extensive training to “keep up to date with the newest investigative techniques and technology to help in every aspect of the job.”

According to Moore, the budget right now of any elected office in Butler County “is always a tightrope walk.

“I have reduced office spending due to the increase spending in toxicology tests.”

Toxicology, Moore said, has become “incredibly important” due to the increase in overdose deaths, which “is also a huge challenge for the coroner’s office.”

As coroner, Moore said, he has “been instrumental in bringing together multiple law enforcement agencies — local, state and federal — to Butler County to discuss the opioid issues.”

Moore said his office also is “instrumental in working with law enforcement to help figure out why people are dying, who they last talked to or their associates to help investigators to piece together the puzzles.”

In speaking with the public, Moore said, people are “surprised about the amount of calls that we respond to on a yearly basis. In the past few years, we have responded to nearly 170 calls (annually) in people’s homes, accidents, homicides, suicide scenes and the emergency room.

“The general public really only knows about the calls they hear about on the news, which is a small portion of what we do.”

In prefacing that “this statement can be verified by any law enforcement officer, investigator or my deputies,” Moore described himself as “dedicated to this position” and said he responds to “virtually every call personally.

“In 2018, I personally responded to 149 of the 161 calls, and in 2019, I personally attended 141 of 162 calls. If I didn’t respond, I was out of town or in an autopsy when I was needed.”

To Moore, the most important duties of coroner are “working with families who have lost a loved one” and “being able to console them and give them the answers that they need,” so “they can start the grieving process and continue with their lives.”

The coroner’s office, Moore said, also is responsible for the child fatality review program, which brings together several agencies any time there is a death of anyone 17 years of age or under.

“The team reviews the death and takes action on any steps that can be taken to prevent another child from dying in the same manner,” Moore said.

Akers

Jim Akers

Having previously served as coroner for eight years, Jim Akers hopes to once again put his extensive background in law enforcement, crime scene and death investigations to work for the citizens of Butler County.

“I would run it like I did the eight years I was (in office),” Akers said. “ … I was trained under Larry Cotrell; that’s who taught me, and I worked for (him) for two years.

“I really admire him. He did a really good job of making that office work with a very small budget and kept it very professional. That’s what I will bring to the office.”

Akers served two terms as coroner from Jan. 1, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2016.

Akers said the coroner’s most important duties are to investigate deaths that happen in the county and to make a determination on whether that (death) was the act of God or at the hand of someone else.

“It’s the duty of the coroner … if that (death) is at the hand of someone else to get that person identified and get charges filed.”

Everyone, Akers said, has a constitutional right to due process and having an unbiased and well-educated investigator looking into the deaths.

Akers said honesty and integrity also are important for “every person that holds political office. I think today we see on the national front too much dishonesty and failure to have integrity.

“We need to elect people who are honest and have integrity.”

To be elected coroner, the state statutes say the person needs to be “simply 18 and a resident of the state,” Akers said.

There is nothing in the statutes that says the person who holds that position has to be affiliated with or trained as a funeral director or have a mortuary science degree, Akers said.

“If you look at the duties, they’re all law enforcement duties — to be a conservator of the peace, to investigate deaths, to issue subpoenas and hold inquests.

“That’s everything, my education … the eight years of experience, along with my degrees and my law enforcement background.”

Akers’ background also includes being a former member and trainer for the Missouri Coroners’ and Medical Examiner Association.

As coroner, Akers said, the biggest challenge is making the death notifications.

“Every day, the coroner has to notify someone or talk to somebody about a death,” Akers explained. “That’s the part of the job that I hate, but I’m honored to do it.

“A person who has passed away can no longer speak for themselves, and that’s the job of coroner.”