Crow Wing County approves transfer of medical examiner contract to Kurt through Jan. 1

The Crow Wing County Board on Sept. 9 approved transferring the county’s medical examiner (coroner) contract from the incumbent contractor, Steve, to Kurt for the remainder of the contract term, which runs through Jan. 1.

Sheriff Clang introduced the item and invited Steve to speak. Steve described stepping back after more than 11 years providing the service and said he had trained Kurt and anticipated the service standard would continue. “We have never had a rate increase in 11 years, and Kurt is gonna maintain that cost,” Steve said. He told the board Kurt “has actually been on every possible scene that we have gone to” in the past year and “respects law enforcement.”

Sheriff Clang and the board thanked Steve for his service. A motion to transfer the medical examiner responsibilities to Kurt for the remainder of the contract term was made and seconded; the chair recorded the motion as passing on a voice vote. One board member noted inquiries that the contract will be up for bid when it expires, and the board acknowledged that a competitive bid could occur at contract renewal.

The meeting transcript records no roll-call tally of individual votes in the excerpt provided. The board also noted the contract term and that questions have been raised about future bidding when the contract expires.