Prowers Coroner Responds to County Request to Remove Bodies from Annex Building

Description: Prowers County Coroner Thomas Dunagan Released the Following Response to the Commissioner's Request that Any Bodies of the Deceased by Removed from the Annex Building...

Prowers County Coroner's Office - Thomas J. Dunagan- Coroner

Rose,

In response to your inquiry into the storage of the deceased at the Prowers County Annex building, there are several issues that need to be brought to the forefront and discussed.

When a death occurs, as the Prowers County Coroner, the body of the deceased is in my care, custody and control. This remains in effect until such time the autopsy is completed or the deceased is released to a funeral home. Due to this fact, the storage of the deceased needs to follow the evidence chain of custody, due to the fact, specific cause and manner of death is not determined until the autopsy is performed, therefore the body is classified as physical evidence, in relation to the death, by the coroner's office.

In order for me to ensure there is an evidentiary chain of custody, of the deceased body, I am required to maintain the body in a location that is under my care and control. The annex is currently where the Prowers County Coroner's Office is located and the existing cooler is in the basement of the annex and was installed for body storage, prior to my election to Prowers County Coroner. In order for the storage to meet the needs that are required, the following needs to apply for proper storage:

A. The body needs to be stored in a cooler that is under my care and control.

B. The cooler needs to be located in a secure facility, which the annex is, requiring key card/key access to the floor where the cooler is located.

C. The coroner or his designee are the only employees authorized to access the interior of the cooler.

D. The cooler's temperature is monitored on site and or remotely to ensure the proper temperature is being maintained.

E. The location of the cooler should be locked in a secure room, unfortunately the building maintenance department stores various items in the same room, which needs to be addressed so that I or my designees are the only employees who can access the cooler room.

F. A camera is not required for this particular room, however if it is a concern, a discussion should occur in regards to having a camera installed.

G. If there is a concern in regards to a back-up cooler if the need arises or the need of a generator to provide power during an outage, a discussion should occur to address these issues as well.

In your letter, you state the commissioners are not aware whether or not the local funeral homes have declined to store the deceased bodies. The issue of storage at local funeral homes is a moot point, for the following reasons.

A. While the body is still in my care and control and is still evidence, the chain of custody applies and storing the body at a funeral home does not meet the standard set forth above in regards to proper evidence storage. This essentially makes the funeral home staff, who are not my designees, have care and control of the body.

B. The body is not stored separately from other bodies that are not under the care and control of my office and it is unknown who is accessing the area where the body is stored.

C. The Prowers County Coroner's Office does not currently have a contract with any of the local funeral homes in the area for storage of bodies that are still under my care and control. The funeral homes function is to store a body prior to the funeral, not to store a body that is evidence prior to an autopsy.

D. To my knowledge, there are no back-up coolers or generators at the local funeral homes in the event of a power outage.

It is the responsibility of the Prowers County Coroner, to determine how a body is properly stored, while under my care and control during the evidence period. At this time, I have determined storing a body at the funeral home, is not sufficient for body storage while it is evidence related to the death. Simply stating in your letter that storing deceased bodies at local funeral homes has been common practice in Prowers County, prior to my election as coroner, does not negate my responsibilities in regards to the proper storage of the deceased, nor does it remove my decision making in regards to where and how bodies will be stored.

I will release the body to the funeral home at such time the autopsy is completed or the family has determined which funeral home they would like to use. Until such time, the body will remain in the storage that I deem appropriate.

It is important to remember, I am the elected coroner, and therefore body storage is my decision alone. The commissioners need to supply an alternate location that is owned by Prowers County and that I deem sufficient for body storage, if they are not happy with the current storage location. Again, this was approved by the commissioners in the past and the location they told me they wanted when I brought alternate locations and options to them. Until a new location is determined and I find it to be appropriate, the bodies will be stored at the current location.

Further, you stated in your letter there are "liabilities" with the current storage, with no further explanation, therefore I would like a list of the liabilities, along with an explanation as to why they are "liabilities". I also would like an explanation as to why this is a CIRSA issue, due to the fact all activities associated with my office fall under the CIRSA insurance.

In your letter you noted that I would be held personally liable, are you stating that I will be held personally liable for properly storing the deceased body, please explain this veiled threat.

Respectfully,

Coroner Thomas Dunagan

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