Interim Public Health Director Dr. Michael Faulk, right, pitches to members of the county legislature’s Human Services Committee his proposal to add a coroner supervisor.

Chautauqua County is looking to add a supervisor to its coroner program, which officials say will create some stability in the department.

During the legislature’s Human Services Committee meeting, Dr. Michael Faulk, chief medical officer and interim Public Health Director, discussed the coroner program.

“It is a difficult job, it is a lot of time commitment and it just doesn’t pay well,” Faulk told members of the Human Services Committee.

Because of this, it tends to have high turnover. Late last year he requested a pay increase to the county’s coroners, but was told it was too late to do anything at that point. After the legislature rejected pay hikes in 2022, he worked with the department to assess needs and best options.

Currently, the county has six coroners, all part-time and all nurses. Five of the six current coroners were hired within the last 18 months.

Faulk said one single case is a minimum of three hours. “There are cases that we’ve had in the last several months that could involve up to 10 to 12 hours worth of unseen work, due to investigations,” he added.

According to Faulk, coroners are busier now than pre-pandemic times, due to drug overdoses and suicides. Suicides are often sent for autopsies to investigate any possible homicides or charges placed against drug dealers. He said a typical autopsy costs $3,000 and is paid entirely by county tax dollars.

Faulk noted that coroners are on call 12-13 days a month, which each shift lasting 12 hours long.

The average coroner makes $16,000 a year. They get a $6,000 stipend and receive $150 per case. “It doesn’t matter if it’s taking them three hours or three days, they’re only getting $150 for that case,” he said.

Faulk said with the lower pay level, most coroners have other employment. Because of that, the weekday shifts are generally the hardest to cover. Occasionally Faulk has had to cover shifts, due to no one available.

Faulk is proposing a full-time management position for the department. He said it would provide “added program oversight, improved stability and structure and potential cost savings to the program.”

The position would be 35 hours a week and would work Monday-Friday days. Faulk said that’s about 42% of all their cases. “Right there’s, that’s about $27,000 that we would not be paying,” he said.

In the past the county has hired funeral directors as coroners. It’s unlikely they would be qualified for this position. Faulk said he would like to hire someone with a strong medical background, including strengths in disease, pathophysiology, medication and medical terminology.

Along with responding to deaths and supervising coroners, the individual would create policies and procedures, be involved in the budget process, work with vendors and contractors, and be the primary contact person for police departments.

For autopsies, Faulk believes they may be able to have fewer ones, with a full-time coroner. Also for the autopsies that have to take place, that person may be able to take care of all transports, which the county pays $475 per trip.

For salary and benefits, Faulk is budgeting $90,000. To help with the position, he is reallocating a public health nurse to offset the cost.

He said with the cost savings of having one person handle more than 40% of all calls, having someone locally available to take care of transportations, possible fewer autopsies, and the cost savings from eliminating a public nurse, the position is mostly covered and could save money in the long run.

Legislator Billy Torres, D-Jamestown, expressed his support. “You guys have a great goal and plan here. I like it,” he said.

Faulk was expected to present his proposal of a coroner supervisor this week during the county budget review. His proposal is already part of County Executive PJ Wendel’s budget for 2024.