Dallas County chief medical examiner retiring after nearly 40 years of helping solve crime

Dallas County’s chief medical examiner and director of its forensic sciences institute — responsible for autopsying the county’s dead, testing DNA and more — will retire this fall, county leaders announced Wednesday.
Jeffrey Barnard, who started with the department in 1987 and has been at its helm since 1991, told county commissioners he will retire Nov. 1. He notified the Commissioners Court of his intent to retire last year, so they could find his replacement, according to a news release.
”As one gets older, you start to consider the sacrifices you have made for your career, the things you have delayed and realize there are no guarantees of a tomorrow,” Barnard told The Dallas Morning News in an email. “My particular profession brings a certain perspective regarding the brevity of life and the reality of sudden death.
“I feel I’ve had a rewarding career and that I provided a good service for Dallas County taxpayers and our other constituents.”
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Barnard’s career has spanned the Persian Gulf Conflict; the Oct. 17, 1991 mass shooting at a Luby’s Cafeteria in Killeen; the 2005 Hurricane Rita bus fire; the West fertilizer plant explosion in 2013; the July 7, 2016 ambush of police officers in downtown Dallas; and most recently the COVID-19 pandemic, the news release said.
He performed many of these high profile and sensitive autopsies, according to the news release.
“Few people in government service have had the impact of Jeffrey Barnard,” Dallas County Judge Clay Lewis Jenkins said in a statement. “He’s brought closure to thousands of grieving families and been at the cutting edge of solving crimes for almost 40 years.”
Under Barnard’s leadership, the county’s Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences (SWIFS) grew from three medical examiners to 14, according to the news release. Barnard has also advanced the office’s DNA testing program, reduced turnaround time for sexual assault kits and created a review process for cold cases.
Deaths reported to the medical examiner’s office have increased 60% since he assumed office, and the number of autopsies doubled during this time: from 2,340 in 1991 to a high of 4,797 in 2022, the release said.
“I’ve never sought publicity for the many accomplishments of my office, so much of the valuable work we do goes unnoticed by the public,” Barnard said. “However, I am proud of the improvements we’ve made and the achievements of my wonderful team. I always focused on improving services to benefit our community in a cost-effective manner.”
According to the news release, Barnard plans to spend his retirement writing, fishing, traveling and with his family.