About the Coroner

Dr. Kent E. Harshbarger received his Medical Doctorate (M.D.) degree from Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and his Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from Southern Illinois University School of Law. He received his Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A) from Wright State University. Dr. Harshbarger completed an anatomic and clinical pathology residency at Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, Indiana and a forensic pathology fellowship at the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office in Dayton Ohio.

Following his training, Dr. Harshbarger was employed for a short time as a forensic pathologist serving the majority of central Illinois, before returning to Dayton, Ohio to serve as a Deputy Coroner/Forensic Pathologist for Montgomery County in 2002. He was appointed as the Montgomery County Coroner in 2011 and continues to serve in that capacity today.

Dr. Harshbarger also retired from the Army Reserve with 36 years of service in 2020.  He holds appointments as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Wright State University School of Medicine, Ohio State University, and in the Department of Specialty Medicine at the Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Harshbarger has also served as the Board President for Community Tissue Services and Community Blood Center, after serving as a board member for the last several years. He also serves as the Chief Deputy Coroner with the Franklin County Coroner’s Office, and, is the Chief Forensic Officer of the Ohio State Coroner’s Association (OSCA).

Nationally, Dr. Harshbarger serves as the Chairman of the Ethics Committee for the National Association of Medical Examiners (NAME) and has also severed NAME as a board member as well as a member of the Executive Committee.  Dr Harshbarger is also a Past President of the American College of Legal Medicine.  

Dedicated to the respect and serene dignity of all those who enter herein. May God bless and comfort them.

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