Fayette County has a new coroner following the approval of the appointment of David Hejl to fill the position. Hejl has been working as a Deputy Coroner since February of this year and Board Chairman Jeff Beckman says that he comes highly recommended from resigning coroner Bruce Bowen. During discussion, county board member Bryce Kistler questioned that he had heard there might be a conflict of interest and asked Hejl to possibly address that issue. Hejl explained that his wife is a forensic pathologist and does complete autopsies for Effingham, Fayette and several surrounding counties and that he does work as her autopsy assistant. With the county paying for autopsies, Hejl said he understood the concern but did say that he would be totally transparent while serving as coroner and that it would be very obvious to the board if there were more autopsies than normal happening. Hejl also informed the board that state statute does not restrict someone working as an assistant on autopsies being conducted and paid for by a county from working as the coroner for a county. After discussion a roll call vote was taken with board members Jeff Beckman, Darrell Schaal, Glenda Bartels, Glen Gurtner, Mark Isaiah, Jake Harris, Jenny Waggoner and John Daniels Jr. voting yes and board members Glen Daniels, Dean Bernhardt, Keith Cole and Bryce Kistler voting no and opposing the appointment with the measure passing by a vote of 8-4. Board members Chad Austin and Wade Wilhour were not present for the vote.