Who wants to be a coroner? More people than you think, now that CSI and its ilk have made death investigation seem like a hip and even lively career choice. In Colorado, practically anyone can apply for the job, which has made for some intriguing races this year.

Reporter Alan Prendergast is following some of these grisly cases, including a particularly lively one in Park County, where 26-year-old EMT David Kintz and Tammy Michelle Davis, a former Summit County deputy coroner turned massage therapist, are trading allegations about inflated credentials, police records and dirty politics as they vie in the Republican primary.

Under the state’s current system, elected coroners aren’t required to have a medical background or other special qualifications for the job — other than the ability to hire forensic pathologists to conduct autopsies.

Since there are fewer than twenty Fps in Colorado, most rural counties hire out the work to a very exclusive pool of contractors.

But the elected official is still the one who deals with law enforcement and families and decides whether an autopsy is even needed.

“You just have to be breathing, 21, a registered voter and not a convicted felon to be a coroner in this state,” Summit County Coroner Joanne Richardson told Prendergast.

“I would like to see our system be more professional.” Kintz said he’s worked with the current coroner on many deaths, going back to when he was a newbie EMT seven years ago: “I believe my background for this position is much stronger.” Davis also claimed to be the most experienced candidate, having been involved in what she described as “hundreds” of death investigations, from motor vehicle accidents to homicides and suicides. But she said she only decided to enter the race on the eve of last April’s Republican county assembly.

Richardson, however, scoffed at a claim Davis made that she has “conducted” around 400 death investigations. There were only 204 deaths investigated by the coroner during the five years Davis worked in Summit County. She was one of several deputies let go when Richardson took office.

Rumors plaguing this race have to do with the reason Davis was let go.Court records show that she was charged with third-degree assault in a domestic-violence case in 1997.

She entered into a deferred-judgment agreement in the case, which was dismissed two years later. Asked about the incident, she responded, “I don’t think it has any relevance to me running for coroner.” Kintz disagreed. “The coroner has to have the utmost respect and integrity,” he said. “If someone has a track record of not being up front and clear on the facts, that bothers me.” latest word To read the original story and for daily updates, go to westword.com.