RICHMOND, Indiana – Kevin Fouche, who served as Wayne County Coroner for the past three years, has resigned from his position in protest against the Wayne County Council.
The resignation took effect on August 9. Fouche previously served as coroner for two terms, from 2005 to 2012.
In a letter to the council, Fouche said that during his tenure he had witnessed “first-hand the council’s blatant disregard for the critical importance of the coroner’s office.”
He wrote that he could “no longer in good conscience carry out a role that is so obviously undervalued and unsupported by those in power. My resignation is a protest against the failure of the Council to recognise and address the urgent needs of the Coroner’s Office.”
According to a report in the Western Wayne News, Fouche had asked the council last year to make the coroner and deputy chief positions full-time and increase salaries to $60,000 and $45,000, respectively. In 2022, Fouche would receive $24,231 and his deputy chief, Tim Brown, would receive $18,174.
In his letter, Fouche cited outdated equipment, inadequate staffing and the inability to pay for “essential training” for the development of his team as some of the reasons why the council had failed to come up with financial solutions.
A request for comment was forwarded to Fouch by the Wayne County Coroner’s Office and was not returned by the time of publication. Two phone calls seeking comment from Wayne County Council Chairwoman Beth Leisure went unanswered.
This story will be updated.
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter for The Palladium-Item. You can reach him at X (@evan_weaver7) or by email at [email protected].
