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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Aaron Ellison was recently selected as the President of the Alabama Coroners Association at the association’s annual meeting in Montgomery from April 14-17. The owner of Ellison Memorial Funeral Home and the Chilton County Coroner, Ellison was selected by a majority vote at the meeting to take the reins of the ACA.

“This is an opportunity to work to find common ground with coroners from both rural and metropolitan areas,” Ellison said. “I look to be a voice of reason and common sense in helping cast vision for the future of our association.”

Ellison commented that there are several areas of need in the association in the near future that he will be leading the charge for. Those include better funding provided by the state legislature for the Alabama Department of Forensic Science, working with the Alabama Coroners Training Commission to establish reasonable training goals for the state’s coroners and working to increase association membership by encouraging all coroners in Alabama to participate in the ACA.

“The department of forensic science needs more funding to help facilitate the efficient and timely performance of autopsies. It also needs help in rendering of results of those autopsies for the sake of expediting closure for families,” Ellison said. “Right now, getting a toxicology report takes too long, and the problem is multifaceted. They are understaffed, they don’t have enough funding and the employment pool of qualified people is also a little thin. We want to work to alleviate those problems, but it will take working together.”

Other positive impacts of greater participation in the association include helping coroners around the state get on the same page, and speaking with one voice. Ellison said a more common-sense approach to training for state coroners is something that is important to help those officials better understand what their role is in their respective communities.

“It is important to realize that coroners have specific needs in their own communities, but there are things we can do better, in a more uniform fashion, to help make things more efficient and much easier,” Ellison said.

Ellison is also a member of the Alabama Funeral Directors Association executive board as the secretary and treasurer, and brings over 20 years of funeral service experience to his new role with the ACA.