The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners agreed to create an independent coroner’s office at its Dec. 23 meeting, naming David Bradley the new coroner.

Bradley and his wife, Samantha, purchased the Kosec Funeral Home and Crematory in Port Townsend in 2023, renaming it Bradley-Kosec Funeral Home and Crematory. 

The change was put in motion by an amendment to state law in 2021. The existing law dictated that prosecutors in counties with fewer than 40,000 people, such as Jefferson County, would automatically serve as coroners. The state attorney general’s office released an opinion in August that it interpreted the changes in law to mean that county prosecuting attorneys should not be in that role. Anyone practicing law is barred from also serving as the coroner due to potential conflicts of interest. Accordingly, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy served in that role, but ceased to be coroner on Dec. 31.

Bradley confirmed that the roles are separate and that the coroner’s office will remain at the courthouse. “I was honored when Mr. James Kennedy asked me if I would be interested in the position, as well as a little nervous,” Bradley wrote in an email to The Leader, adding that Kennedy told him he was “already doing most of the work.” Bradley said he recognized the trust bestowed upon him in the role, and thanked Kennedy and the commissioners.