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October 26, 2009

Henderson County already exceeds annual autopsy budget

By Rich Flowers News Editor

Henderson County has exceeded the amount budgeted this year for autopsies, with more than two months remaining on the calendar.

Holly Sparks of the Henderson County Auditor’s office said, though the original 2009 budget provided $160,000 for the forensic examinations, expenses had exceeded $183,000 by Oct. 23.

Earlier this month, Commissioners approved a budget amendment to cover additional costs through the end of the year.

The county must also pay transport fees to move the bodies to the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, or other locations, if necessary.

“We’re running at about $18,000 a month, plus transport fees,” County Auditor Ann Marie Lee said.

The forensic institute recently increased it’s price for autopsies by $100 each, to $1,950 for a Level-1 examination, and $2,350 for a Level-2.

As recently as 2006, the yearly expense was $128,173. Whatever the cost, the county has little choice but to pay it.

“We do death investigations, determining the cause and manner of death,” Adams said.

The JP’s operate under the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, which has guidelines for determining when an autopsy is required.

The code states that a justice of the peace shall conduct an inquest into the death of a person who dies in the county served by the justice if:

• the person dies an unnatural death from a cause other than a legal execution;

• the body of a person is found, the cause or circumstances of death are unknown,

• the circumstances of the death indicate that the death may have been caused by unlawful means;

• the person commits suicide or the circumstances of the death indicate that the death may have been caused by suicide;

• the person dies without having been attended by a physician or

• the person is a child younger than six years of age.

“If the JP is going to certify it, you’re swearing that that’s the way the patient died, so you’ve got to have medical backing for that,” Adams said. “We’re doing what the situation dictates.”

Adams said determining the cause of death is not always a simple call. For example, a deceased person in a wrecked car may not have died from the accident, but may have suffered a fatal heart attack before the impact.

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