The Boulder County Commissioners appointed current Deputy Chief Coroner Jeff Martin as coroner on February 15, 2024. He will hold the office until January 14, 2025.

The search for a new coroner began after Emma Hall, Boulder County’s former coroner, announced her resignation after an internal investigation this last summer revealed a pervasive negative work environment in the office she ran.

Boulder Reporting Lab first uncovered and reported the investigation that showed the office handling County death investigations was rife with antagonism, favoritism, and leadership problems. Hall’s last day was January 11, 2024.

On February 15, Commission Chair Stolzman reported that on January 11 the County had hosted a town hall with 22 candidates for the position. On February 6, the Commission interviewed a short list of three candidates, one of whom subsequently withdrew.

Staff panelists interviewing the final two candidates were Cynthia Braddock, Assessor; Curtis Johnson, Sheriff; Michael Dougherty, District Attorney; and Natalie Springett, Commissioners’ Office. Also present were Commissioners Claire Levy, Ashley Stolzmann, and Marta Loachamin.

Current Deputy Chief Coroner Jeff Martin answered the questions posed by the panel. He emphasized that “we are always dealing with crises such as mass disasters, airplanes, hurricanes, the Marshall Fire….As a leader you have to be the calm in the storm and have the poise to work through those situations.” He told the group that he had co-authored a mass fatality plan template for smaller coroner offices around the state, and that he is currently working on one for the County.

Martin has already filed to run as a candidate for Coroner in the November 2024 General Election. He emphasized to the panel that he can run a strong campaign.

He moved with his wife and daughter to Boulder in 2021 and immediately began integrating himself into the community by participating on the advisory board for the Boulder Valley School District’s criminal justice program and serving as a head basketball coach with the St. Vrain Valley School District. He now calls Colorado his “forever home.”

Martin has over 32 years of combined experience in the field of medicolegal death investigation and law enforcement investigations. He has worked for the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office in Florida, the Inspector General’s Office in Florida, the State of Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office in Tulsa, and the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

His various positions have included Deputy, Investigator, Chief Investigator, Internal Affairs Director, Director of Operations, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Deputy Coroner. As director of internal affairs he experienced conducting death investigations from both sides.

Changes he introduced in the Boulder office include creating new procedures that enhance efficiency and empower staff to provide the best in public service. He has “reinvigorated” training opportunities for professional development, and worked toward better communication with the public he has served. “It is very important,” he said, “to provide services with dignity and respect.”

He added that he is “battle tested with any and every scenario in 20 years,” and has also managed multimillion-dollar budgets. “We can save the County money,” he stressed, and said that “the state of the office has never been better.” He feels that he has earned the trust of staff and partner agencies.

The panel also interviewed the second candidate, Deron Dempsey, who came to Boulder County in 1999 and in 2004 worked on the front line. He worked toward helping the office begin to heal.

In 2011, he left Boulder County and worked for Jefferson County, where he learned the mechanisms of the Coroner’s Office there. When he ran for Coroner he swept the caucuses. He added that he is connected with party leaders and can launch a campaign.

Commissioners and panelists said both are very qualified, but the panel agreed that Jeff Martin’s background and experience placed him in the lead.

The Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Jeff Martin to the position of Boulder County Coroner contingent upon the successful clearance of his pending background check.

For more information go to https:// pub-bouldercounty.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx?Id=4989910c- 7ddc-4fdf-acc7-574888e862f4&Age nda=PostMinutes&Flang=English.