I believe in elections, in voting and in being fair in the process. I believe our representatives should be elected for their abilities and not who endorses them, how they worship or how much money they have. It has saddened and bewildered me to witness a smear campaign against Coroner Jimmy Robers that feels relentless. Why?
Please note, this is not an endorsement. It is an appeal for a fair campaign.
Let me clarify what a smear campaign is – one that knowingly spreads lies and half-truths to influence voters. This doesn’t include challenging what an opponent has openly said as long as they are accurately quoted. We can disagree with civility and, in fact, we should.
And, we can point out pertinent facts. Ah, another word that needs definition in our world. Facts. Something that happened, that can be proven to have happened. Rumors do not qualify as facts. Online posts don’t qualify unless there is documentation. Also note that repeated non-facts don’t make them facts; something doesn’t become true just because everyone is saying so.
Nearly two years ago when I started attending the county commissioner meetings, I learned of the fireworks happening over Roberts’ budget requests. Commissioner Mark Bair was adamantly opposed to any more money being given the coroner office and we had a few civil and informative discussions. As I listened to both sides, I learned a few things.
There seems to be a strong feeling that the way things have always been is enough for today’s needs. I confess that doesn’t make sense to me. If there is a new technique or tool to improve service or safety, why would you not at least weigh its benefits with its costs?
Our world has changed from the days of part-time coroners that sign a death record and make sure a decedent is taken to a funeral home. Now state law requires the coroner to determine the cause of death in a separate investigation from the responding law enforcement officers or deputies. For the courts the coroners need to maintain a chain of custody so prosecutions can be effective. For families they also need to respect medical privacy just as doctors follow HIPAA rules.
Facts? State law requirements are online at https://legislature.idaho.gov/ – Laws & Rules – Idaho Statutes, under Title 19 and Chapter 43. In 19-4301-2 it says, “The criminal investigation shall be the responsibility of the appropriate law enforcement agency. The medicolegal death investigation shall be the responsibility of the coroner.”
Why does the state require two investigations? Because the investigations are for different reasons. Law enforcement departments are focused on gathering evidence to determine if there has been a crime that caused the death. The coroners are focused on determining the time, cause and manner of death using their professional medicolegal training.
This doesn’t mean the two responding teams can’t work together. They can be supportive at the scene, but not collaborative. Their investigations must remain independent of each other to ensure impartial, objective and evidence-based conclusions. By having two separate professional “eyes” investigating the scene, injustices and misunderstandings can be prevented.
Before leaving the state statutes, there was a significant change in 2025 when the legislature removed a requirement that the coroner investigate stillbirths. Previously, the place where a stillbirth occurred was required to timely report the death through a form they filled out. There never were any direct investigations of the scene or contact with any grieving mothers by Roberts or any deputy coroner in Bingham County.
There was a conflict between the Roberts and the Grove Creek Medical Center over filing the paperwork as required. According to the county prosecutor, a failure to report a death is a misdemeanor. Roberts was trying to bring the county into compliance, even if it hadn’t been done that way before.
Misrepresentation of these facts have been a part of this smear campaign and I’m still trying to figure out why. Grove Creek is such a marvelous facility. However, it is a changing world and that can take time to adjust to.
Fiscally, state requirements mean more expenses, which has been a challenge for the county commissioners. To carry out the law fully there needs to be a trained full-time coroner who can determine the cause of death accurately, a direct way of transporting the decedents, a private investigation facility and a secure storage location.
Enter the funeral homes that were being used to transport the decedents from the death location to their establishments, store them and on occasion to transport them to Boise for an autopsy. The Blackfoot Hawker and Shelley Nalder Funeral Homes had an agreement with the county that they would do this for the county – free of charge.
Free to the county. Not free to the families. Apparently the families were charged, and they were double charged if they wanted their family member to be taken care of at a different funeral home. The funeral homes’ agreement sounded good to the county. They may not have been aware the costs were being passed on to the grieving families.
In actuality, it was a default, no choice source of revenue for the funeral homes, which they lost when Roberts cancelled that contract and began transporting the decedents with county resources. Not only did the cancellation save money for the families, it was also best for maintaining an unquestioned chain of custody for county legal purposes.
For autopsy transports, the funeral homes were charging the county $600 per decedent, which was raised to $700 without Roberts’ involvement. Seeking to lower costs, Roberts found an Idaho Falls funeral home that would transport county decedents for autopsies for under $500. One estimation is that Hawker has lost about $20,000 a year with the cancellation of that transportation agreement.
Facts? Personal notes taken at commissioner meetings and county budget records.
Question? Can we weigh the facts and vote for who is best qualified for the position? Isn’t that our responsibility?