“What we learn helps the living,” reflects Dr. Leon Kelly of his time as coroner

EL PASO COUNTY — Measuring the best and worst days on the job for Dr. Leon Kelly is nearly impossible.

As a medical examiner, his business is death; and that means meeting families at the worst time of their lives.

“I always joke that this compartmentalization is basically the superpower of forensics,” Kelly said.

With two years left on his current term, Kelly will leave his elected office early at the end of the year.

“It’s, it’s the end of an era, a departure and a new phase, I think for myself, um, and for the office,” Kelly said. “I think it’s time for me to move on to some other things.”

The last few years have not been without many mass tragedies in the Pikes Peak region. From the pandemic, mass shootings and the Back to Nature funeral home investigation.

“It was partly the best of times and the worst of times, because the darkest moments were always the moments that we shone as well, which is amazing to think about. But the reality is what we do here,” Kelly said.

He plans to teach at a Colorado medical school and perform autopsies as an independent contractor. The El Paso County Commissioner will appoint his replacement.

“This job reminds you every day that you’re not guaranteed a single moment, that anything can happen to anyone,” Kelly said.

In an office not usually known for publicity, Kelly has used his title over the past few years to shape policy, including the very laws that dictate who can ultimately run in his place.

Previously, Colorado law required coroner candidates to be only 18 years old, not be felons, have a high school diploma and live in the county they preside over.

A new law passed in 2024 now requires candidates in large counties like El Paso to be either certified medical examiners or certified death investigators.

“Doing this job for 17 years, the first day you take it, something bad is going to happen, probably a lot of bad things are going to happen, and we don’t have time for you to figure it out. Um, for you to learn on the job, you have to know what you’re doing, Kelly said.

Kelly said he has accomplished key goals he set out when he was first elected in 2018. His goal was not only to change policy, but to use the data and information gathered at the coroner’s office to inform the public.

“We never do autopsies, they’re dead, they’re gone. We do them because what we learn helps us live,” Kelly said.

Kelly said there will be times when family members don’t want to do an autopsy, and he said talking to families about the impact of collecting that information is one of the most meaningful parts of his job.

“To me, the value of the work that we do, and the time and energy and personal sacrifice and trauma and pain that you go through in this position, it’s not worth it if you’re not going to do something with that information.” – said Kelly.

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