It began as a hunt for something interesting to do with spare time and has now turned into a profession for Todd Zeiner, the new Putnam County Coroner. 

In 2015, Zeiner became Deputy Coroner for the first time under then Coroner Dave Brown and was recently selected as Coroner by the Putnam County Republican Party following the resignation of Jon Myers. 

"I was operating my own cattle farm at the time and was looking for something interesting to do in my spare time as most of our four children had gone to college," Zeiner told The Putnam County Post of how he got into the office in 2015. 

Zeiner said in 2015, Brown appointed him as an unpaid "Reserve Deputy Coroner," a role he held for 14 months. 

"I then moved into a paid position held by the former coroner, Thomas Miller," Zeiner said. 

When Myers was elected in 2020, Zeiner was appointed as his Chief Deputy. 

"I have trained multiple people that have worked and left the department since then.  I remained, working some very difficult cases over the years, assisting the people of the county during some of the most difficult times of their lives," Zeiner said. 

When the position opened in December, Zeiner realized there weren't many people available who could assume the role and handle the transition, he admitted. 

"My intention is to complete the steps to run for the elected position in 2024 if the people of Putnam county are willing to elect me," he said.

As for goals, Zeiner said he has a few. 

"My goals for the department are to utilize my experience from the job. Make the limited necessary budget requests to the county funds that directly relate to efficiency and help eliminate repetitive and wasteful spending," Zeiner said.