Yakima County Coroner Jim Curtice was arraigned Friday on charges of official misconduct and making false statements to public officials after he admitted to Yakima police he was using drugs he found on corpses.
Curtice, 57, appeared in Yakima County District Court. He also was arraigned on a charge of tampering with physical evidence.
The charges are all gross misdemeanors and carry a maximum sentence of a year in jail.
Judge Brian Sanderson entered an innocent plea on Curtice's behalf and released Curtice on his own recognizance, barring him from consuming alcohol or any drugs that have not been prescribed for him, including marijuana.
Curtice was charged earlier this month following an investigation into his allegations that his chief deputy had spiked his workout drink powder with fentanyl. In the course of a police investigation, Curtice admitted that he had been using drugs he found on dead bodies and tried to cover up his actions.
Curtice was initially scheduled for a preliminary appearance, where a judge determines if there is probable cause to go to trial, but Bill Pickett, Curtice's attorney, asked that Curtice be arraigned instead to move the case forward.
In addition to the prohibition on alcohol or drugs, Ellensburg City Prosecutor Aaron Reiman also added a condition that Curtice break no laws while he is free. Reiman was appointed by Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic to file the case because of a conflict of interest involving Brusic's office.
Curtice left the hearing and declined to speak with reporters. He remains on a self-imposed paid administrative leave. Chief Deputy Coroner Marshall Slight has been running the coroner's office since mid-September.
The hearing was a week after Yakima County Superior Court Judge Kevin Naught signed an order approving the ballot synopsis for a petition to recall Curtice from office over the allegations.
Background
Curtice's drug use came to light Aug. 27, 2024, when he told Yakima police that he fell ill after taking a sip of an energy drink. His wife, Kristi Foster, came to his office and found him unconscious and called for an ambulance, according to police reports.
At the hospital, a test showed cocaine in Curtice's system, and he told police after he was discharged, he went back to his office and did his own test and found fentanyl as well.
He told detectives he also tested his workout drink powder and water in a tea kettle in his office, the report said, with both items testing positive for the powerful opioid.
Curtice told police that Slight, who unsuccessfully ran against him in 2022, would have the most to gain from poisoning him, the report said.
Yakima detectives, assisted by the FBI, brought in a drug-sniffing dog from the Pasco Police Department to search the coroner's office. The dog reacted in the autopsy room, where Curtice said there was a fentanyl pill and residue inside a blender he said the office used to destroy drugs, the report said.
The dog also experienced a "change in behavior" in Curtice's office that was initially attributed to Curtice's cadaver dog being in the room earlier. Detectives also found powder on Curtice's desk that was collected as part of the investigation, the police report said.
Subsequent testing of the powder in Curtice's office could not identify the substance, but a test of Curtice's blood samples by the state crime lab revealed fentanyl in Curtice's system, according to a supplemental document included in the complaint.
Curtice failed a polygraph test Sept. 12, the report said. While polygraph results are inadmissible in court, police use them as an investigative tool.
YPD Lt. Chad Janis and FBI Special Agent Peter Orth confronted Curtice with the results, and 39 minutes into the interview Curtice admitted that he had been using drugs he found on dead bodies that were brought to his office, snorting them off his arm while sitting at his desk, the report said.
He also admitted mixing fentanyl into a sample of his drink powder and the tea kettle water to support his claim of being poisoned.
Curtice told the detectives that he didn't want his wife to find out he was using drugs, so he claimed he was poisoned, the report said.
Curtice said he would also be contacting Deer Hollow, the Utah rehabilitation center he went to in 2023 after he got drunk and fought with a Yakima County sheriff's deputy outside Curtice's house.
While sheriff's deputies recommended Curtice be charged with third-degree assault in 2023, Brusic declined to press charges, cutting Curtice's mental state and intoxication.
In that incident and the current incident, Foster blamed Curtice's behavior on post-traumatic stress from incidents in his childhood and during his career as a paramedic.
Recall
In addition to the criminal charges, Curtice is also facing a recall effort alleging that the coroner used illegal drugs in connection with his official duties, filed false reports, mishandled personal property, stole contraband from corpses and has not been at work since Sept. 13.
The recall petition was filed by Yakima County Republican precinct committee officers Roy Dove, Stephan Edwards and Kenton Gartrell.
As an elected official, Curtice can only be removed from office by resigning, being recalled or voted out when his term expires. Yakima County commissioners, Sheriff Bob Udell and Auditor Charles Ross have called on him to resign.
Curtice ran as a Republican and the local party would be involved with recommending a replacement if he steps down or is recalled.
© 2025 Yakima Herald-Republic (Yakima, Wash.). Visit www.yakima-herald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
