Requiring coroners to be appointed rather than elected.

SB 6101 would require all Washington counties to appoint coroners instead of holding elections for the position. This change directly affects every county in the state, replacing current election systems with appointments by county legislative authorities. The bill's key mechanism eliminates partisan elections for a role the legislature states requires technical expertise, not political alignment, and allows counties over 250,000 population to adopt medical examiner systems instead. Existing elected coroners may serve until their terms end. The bill also includes new training requirements for coroners and medical examiners but does not alter the core appointment mandate.