Incumbent Kenton County Coroner Amber Constantino had one Republican primary challenger, Jessica Cooper.
But Cooper told LINK nky Monday she is no longer running.
Duties of a Coroner
Coroners perform post-mortem examinations and investigations for a variety of death circumstances including, but not limited to, deaths that appear to be caused by homicide or violence, suicide, drugs or poisons, motor vehicle accidents, fire or explosion, or any death that is sudden and unexplained, per kentoncounty.org.
Amber Constantino (R)
Constantino is the current Kenton County Coroner. She was appointed to the position by Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann on June 8, 2021 in response to former Coroner Dr. David Suetholz announcing his retirement.
“What I do is what I love doing: serving my community,” Constantino said.
Constantino was appointed the deputy coroner in 2020 where she was responsible for investigating deaths, collecting and examining history of the decedent, documenting normal and abnormal findings, identifying human remains, supervising the transportation of corpses, operating crime scene equipment, completing death certificates, and notifying next of kin
She received a nursing degree from Good Samaritan Nursing School in 1999 and a Bachelor’s Degree from Northern Kentucky University in 2018. She received her Certification in Death Investigation from the Online University of North Dakota
Before Constantino joined the Coroner’s office, she worked at St. Elizabeth Healthcare as a forensic nurse examiner where she provided care for victims of sexual assault, human trafficking, elder abuse, child abuse, and interpersonal violence.
As the current Coroner, Constantino values education and communication above all else. Constanino attends speaking events at local high schools and EMS departments in order to educate the public about the duties of a coroner.
“Opening up communication between the Coroner’s office and the local first responders involving the EMS, paramedics, fire department, police, and law enforcement is something we’ve been working on,” Constantino said. “Making it a mutual, open communication forum. That improves expediting the certificates, completing and closing cases and working together.
A long term goal Constantino has for the office is improving archiving records.
“Another thing that I’ve been doing is trying to improve archiving records. Some of the record keeping in the past has been compromised by weather, the storage areas and everything else, so I’m trying to preserve what records we have which is very important,” Constantino said.
Constantino understands the emotional stoicism required for the position, and strives to use empathy and compassion when on the job.
“When I arrive, I want to make the transition as easy as possible, providing compassion and empathy,” Constantino said. “From a forensic nursing point of view, documenting everything objectively. Just make the process as easy as possible for the family doing so from my forensic nursing background.”
Jessica Cooper (R)
Cooper officially withdrew from the Republican primary for Kenton County coroner as of March 18, 2022. She is no longer on the ballot.
