Adams County’s coroner has signed a renewed agreement to provide services to Broomfield after she sent a letter expressing anger over what she called a lack of confidence from Broomfield in her office’s services, and said the office would no longer provide services to the city and county starting in 2021.

In a meeting earlier this month, members of Broomfield’s City Council expressed a desire to look into how Monica Broncucia-Jordan’s office handled the investigation into the 2019 death of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died of a heart attack days after he was arrested by Aurora police and subdued with ketamine.

However, the council did vote at that meeting to renew the intergovernmental agreement with the Adams County coroner’s office because of the little notice otherwise to decide on a new provider for coroner services, which was reported by the Broomfield Enterprise. 

“I find the lack of communication from Broomfield Council and the discussions at the Council meeting completely unprofessional,” Broncucia-Jordan wrote in the letter, which the Denver Post obtained. She wrote she was never contacted directly about any concerns. “Without confidence in the services my Office provides to your community, I have elected not to renew the Broomfield Coroner services (intergovernmental agreement) for the year 2021.”

But a news release posted to the City and County of Broomfield’s website says Broncucia-Jordan has signed the agreement to provide services for 2021. She will attend a Jan. 12 City Council meeting to for a discussion with the body, says the release, and the agreement includes a 120-day termination clause.

Broncucia-Jordan has served as Adams County’s coroner since 2011.

“We are eager to nurture this long-standing partnership,” Broomfield Mayor Pat Quinn said in the release. “We are working from a place of positive intent to ensure our lines of communications are open and enhanced.”