Roll of Honor
Incident
Sheriff Koerner was killed in an accident while en route to serve a search warrant. His vehicle struck a cattle truck at the intersection of Highway 287 and Highway 40. Sheriff Koerner had been sheriff for 29 years.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-CO-66A47952- Stewardship
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- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
29 years. You could have gone home.
Sheriff Koerner gave the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office 29 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Hugo community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sheriff Koerner.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sheriff Merlin Haves Koerner is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In CO, 101 of 360 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.9 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Merlin Haves Koerner's cause is highlighted.
How Merlin Haves Koerner Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Merlin Haves Koerner is highlighted in Jun.