Steve Nonn won’t seek reelection after nearly 25 years as Madison County coroner
Madison County Coroner Steve Nonn is retiring at the end of his sixth term next fall.
“What is most meaningful to me and my staff of investigators is that we truly believe in and ascribe to the belief that the high road to service is traveled with integrity, compassion and understanding,” he stated in a press release.
“The citizens of Madison County, who need this office in times of family crisis, don’t care how much we know until they know how much we care. I know we do this as a matter of routine day in and day out.”
Nonn was first elected coroner in 2000, campaigning on his law-enforcement credentials. That included 26 years with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and 20 years as an investigator and deputy commander of the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad.
Before that, Nonn worked in security at St. Louis Lambert International Airport and the Madison County Courthouse, according to his official biography. He grew up in Granite City.
“I have been fortunate to work with incredibly dedicated and professional police officers and deputy coroners throughout my career,” he stated in the release. “The men and women of the Madison County Coroner’s Office are the absolute best in the field of medicolegal death investigations.
“I am so very proud and honored to have been their leader. For me, leaving this outstanding group of dedicated investigators will be the hardest part of retiring.”
Nonn is particularly proud to have helped establish the Madison County Heroin Task Force and Drug Smart Awareness Program, according to the release. The latter has been presented to more than 30,000 students in Madison, St. Clair and Christian counties.
Nonn listed the following as some of his other accomplishments:
His first act after being sworn in was staffing the coroner’s office 24/7, 365 days a year.
During his six terms, he professionalized the office by establishing an education mandate, requiring full-time investigators to get certified through the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.
His office has five investigators on the Greater St. Louis Major Case Squad (the only coroner’s office in Illinois or Missouri with that distinction) and five on the Southern Illinois Child Death Task Force.
He helped write the Madison County Homicide and Questionable Death Protocol that is followed by all police and fire departments in Madison County.
He instituted a uniform report-writing system that made death investigations an easier and more fluid process in terms of documenting and storing data.
He wrote and implemented a Standard Operating Procedure manual for the coroner’s office.
He doubled the number of public and school presentations on the office’s functions and potential dangers that can lead to untimely deaths, focusing on the nationwide opioid epidemic.
He required his full-time deputies and 30 volunteer deputies to be trained in mass disaster and bio-chemical terrorism to assist in mass-causality events.
He sponsored seminars on nursing-home deaths and elder abuse so volunteer deputy coroners assigned to funeral homes could spot and report problems.
He instituted an intern program so area students could earn college credit by working in his office.
He began the first annual reporting of death-related statistics to Madison County citizens.
He was a founding member of the Society of Medicolegal Death Investigators.
He founded the Madison County Elder Abuse/Fatality Review Team, the second coroner’s office in the state to take such action.
Nonn also received awards from the NAACP’s Alton Branch, Southern Illinois Police Chiefs Association, Southern Illinois Law Enforcement Commission, U.S. Department of Defense and AFL-CIO Greater Madison County Federation of Labor, as well as a state award for arson investigation.
Nonn belongs to many boards and professional associations. He describes the experience of serving Madison County residents as their coroner “humbling.”
“I’ve met people from all walks of life, many of them on one of the worst days of their life,” he stated in the release. “So I’ll carry some memories with me when I leave this office. But I’d like to think I did a good job for these families. And in the end, that’s what matters most to me.
“I’m grateful to the people of Madison County who believed in me and stood by me the last 24 years — my family, friends and loyal supporters, people who honored me with their vote every election, leaders and members of all the unions and the Democrat Party.”
Nonn and his wife, Sue, are still making plans for what they will do in retirement.
