ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — When primary voters cast their ballots for coroner in Orangeburg County on June 11th, Orangeburg County Chief Deputy Coroner Sean Fogle, Orangeburg County Deputy Coroner Valencia Golden and Bamberg County Deputy Coroner Montez Haynes will be on the ballot for the Democratic nomination.
With no Republican opposition in November, the winner of Tuesday's primary race will in all likelihood be coroner.
Monetz Haynes says if elected, he wants to improve response times, get the coroner's office accredited and offer his experience with death care experience.
“I have been in death care for over 20 years, serving my community, serving my family," Haynes said. "It's just a pleasure to stay here and also be a part of this community, so I know what the people of Orangeburg need because I hear them. I’m with them, I take care of them. I’m with them ... I take care of them during their most low time is when a loved one dies, so those are the things that people need to know about Montez Haynes.”
Valencia Golden says if elected, her focus would be on getting the coroner's office accredited and applying for resources and grants.
“I hear response time, it depends on what end of the county you’re on, when a death occurs, the amount of time that it will probably take for us to get there and that goes back to having the resources that I spoke about earlier," said Golden. "Being able to have what we need when we need it in order to respond to the families ... so that’s major. It's very important to us to make sure we have the resources to respond.”
Fogle says if elected, his efforts would be on education, collaboration and accreditation.
“Making sure that we partner with the schools because right now, one of the main things that were facing nationwide is the shortage in forensics pathologists," said Fogle. "So, that’s one of the things that is taking a little while for autopsies to take place, but if we can get with the schools and just introduce to the students at an early age, maybe that’s something that they would want to go into.”
If none of the three candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote, there would need to be a runoff.