History

In 12th century England, the power of the Sheriff was a growing entity within the King's land. To monitor the Sheriff for evidence of dishonesty, the King created the role of coroner. For each county, four men were selected by the court for the role of "coroner," named so because they were meant to serve the "crown." These men brought important concerns to the attention of the King and investigated any failure to inform the King of these important matters. The coroners were deemed the only persons within the county with the power to arrest the Sheriff himself.

By the 16th century, the coroner had become an elected official. While he still maintained the power to ensure the honesty of public officials, the most prominent role of the coroner had become what it is in the United States today: investigating violent and suspicious deaths.

Since the Kankakee County Coroner was established in 1853, the following 28 men have served in the capacity:

George Cooper (1853 - 1854) Hiram B. Titcomb (1854 - 1856)

Charles B. Hosmer (1856 - 1860) George R. Letourneau (1860 - 1863)

William H. Matthewson (1863 - 1869) Otis Durfee (1869 - 1870)

Charles G. Willis (1870 - 1874) Henry Licht (1874 - 1880)

Salome Wunderlich (1880 - 1882) August Schmidt (1882 - 1892)

Jacob E. Willman (1892 - 1898) Louis E. Fenouille (1898 - 1902)

Thomas J. Clark (1902 - 1904) Louis E. Fenouille (1904 - 1919)

George W. Watts (1919 - 1921) Sefroy J. Brosseau (1921 - 1923)

Octave J. Cartier (1925-1931) Adolph E. Kerger (1933 - 1941)

Ed P. Madison (1941 - 1949) David W. Wood (1949 - 1956)

J. William Spillane (1958 - 1961) Claire B. Sledge (1961 - 1962)

Robert McKenna (1962 - 1964) James H. Ryan (1964 - 1978)

Wesley L. Wiseman (1978 - 1980) James A. Orrison (1980 - 2000)

James Kelly (2000 - 2003) Robert J. Gessner (2003 - Present)

In 2004, the County of Kankakee received funding from the State of Illinois to construct a new morgue facility. The facility opened in December of 2005 and was named the Bryan R. Mitchell MD Forensic Center in 2010 in honor of Dr. Bryan Mitchell who served as the Forensic Pathologist for Kankakee County for a number of years. The Forensic Center provides the Kankakee County Coroner’s Office with a professional environment to operate within.