Commissioners Appoint Acting Coroner

The Franklin County Commissioners today appointed Dr. J. Scott Somerset Acting County Coroner to fill the vacancy left by the departure of Coroner, Dr. Jan Gorniak. The appointment is temporary, lasting until a permanent replacement is appointed by the previous office-holder’s political party, which must occur within 45 days.

Dr. Somerset is a Forensic Pathologist with the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, where he has served since 2012. He is a graduate of the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio, has a Ph.D. in Human Genetics, and has taught medical students, residents, and forensic pathology fellows for more than a decade. Dr. Somerset has also testified and certified as an expert in forensic pathology in U.S. Federal Court and in courts in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. He holds medical licenses in Ohio and Michigan.

Ohio Revised Code section 305.02 authorizes the Board of County Commissioners to appoint an Acting Coroner between the occurrence of the vacancy and the time when a successor is appointed by the central committee of the political party with which the officer-elect was affiliated takes office.