Pacific County at a glance
- Who handles deaths
- Pacific County Department of the Coroner (opens in a new tab)
- County seat
- South Bend
- Main towns
- Raymond, South Bend, Long Beach, Ilwaco
- People
- About 23,950 (state estimate, 2026)
- County government
- Pacific County's official website (opens in a new tab)
Sources: the county seat from the state Department of Enterprise Services, towns and people from the state Office of Financial Management (opens in a new tab), who handles deaths from the commissioners' December 26, 2024 proceedings, and each office's own page. Checked October 31, 2026.
South Bend is the county seat of Pacific County, with about 1,755 people, and Raymond is the largest town, with about 3,160 people.
Who handles a death in Pacific County
Pacific County has about 23,950 people, under the 40,000 line in state law, so it may appoint a coroner instead of electing one (RCW 36.16.030). The Pacific County Department of the Coroner, not the prosecutor, looks into deaths that are sudden or unexpected, and cleanup waits until that office, and the police if they came, are done. Since January 1, 2025, an appointed coroner has led a county Department of the Coroner (Resolution 2024-059). On the county website, the coroner's page sits in the Prosecuting Attorney's section.
Towns in Pacific County
Other main towns are Long Beach (about 1,730 people) and Ilwaco (about 1,095). When you call or send a request, tell us the town or the ZIP code.
For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab, Pacific County's health department is Pacific County Department of Public Health & Human Services.
Who to call first
In an emergency, call 911.These official offices may be part of the first steps. They are government pages, not ours.
- Pacific County Department of the Coroner (opens in a new tab)After a sudden or unexpected death, cleanup waits until this office is done.
- Pacific County Department of Public Health & Human Services (opens in a new tab)For local health questions, such as a home that was used as a drug lab.
- Washington Crime Victims Compensation Program (L&I) (opens in a new tab)If a crime happened, it may help with some costs, such as funeral expenses. It doesn't pay for cleanup.
- Verify a contractor (L&I lookup) (opens in a new tab)Look up whether a company is a registered contractor before work starts.
- Washington State Department of Health (opens in a new tab)State health rules, such as for drug lab cleanup and hantavirus.