KINGS COUNTY MORGUE SUMMARY

The Kings County Grand Jury visited the new Kings County Morgue. This facility replaced a county morgue that was extremely outdated with limited space. The spacious new morgue boasts state-of-the-art equipment and the lasts technology. There is also a full time staff of three who see to the daily operations as well as the needs of the decedents and their families.

BACKGROUND

Section 27491 of the California Government Code governs whish deaths must be investigated by the Coroner. A coroner will investigate deaths which occur under the following circumstances:

• Unattended deaths

• Deceased not seen by physician in 20 days prior to death

• Physician unable to state the cause of death

• Known or suspected homicide

• Known or suspected suicide

• Criminal action or suspicion of a criminal act

• Related to suspected self-induced or criminal abortion

• Associated with known or alleged rape/crime against nature

• Following an accident or injury, either old or recent

• Drowning, Fire, Gunshot, Starvation, Acute Alcoholism or Drug Addiction, Hanging, Strangulation, Aspiration, or Exposure

• Stabbing or Cutting

• Accidental poisoning (by food, chemical, drug, therapeutic agents)

• Occupational diseases or hazards

• Contagious diseases constituting a public hazard

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• Operating Room deaths, patients under anesthesia from surgery, recovery room or elsewhere

• In prison or while under sentence

• All deaths of unidentified persons

• Suspected sudden infant death syndrome (crib deaths)

An autopsy is not always performed. If the death is a “natural death” and the deceased has a physician who can provide a medical/acceptable cause of death, the coroner will not normally have an autopsy executed. In criminal cases, an autopsy is used to gather evidence for presentation in a court of law.

A coroner does not have to be a medical doctor, as is the case in 43 of the 58 counties in the State of California. Subsequently, a coroner does not necessarily perform autopsies. A coroner’s office is responsible for investigating the facts, circumstances, and causes of deaths, as well as ensuring that required autopsies do indeed occur.

California Penal Code §925 provide: “The grand jury shall investigate and report on the operations, account, and records of the officers, departments or functions of the county…” METHODOLOGY

The Kings County Grand Jury toured the new Kings County Morgue. The Jury also conducted an interview with the Senior Deputy Coroner, who manages day-to-day operations, a Deputy Coroner, and office staff.

DISCUSSION

The Kings County Grand Jury toured the new Kings County Morgue. It in October, 2014 and was built at a cost of $2,261,260.55. This new structure is a replacement for an extremely outdated and small facility. The new building covers 5,120 square feet (compared to the old 1,200 square foot building). The morgue can hold approximately 100 bodies at one time, if necessary, to address a catastrophic event. In addition, the Health Department has a mobile temporary morgue to house dozens of bodies if and as needed.

The new morgue was constructed to meet or exceed the standards of modern morgues. This includes effective ventilation, a large refrigerated space for storing the deceased, two state-of-the-art autopsy rooms with observation windows for select audiences, ultraviolet lights for killing germs, a temperature controlled secure facility for the proper handling of evidence, a large intake area for receiving bodies, and a CDI Livescan Enhanced Workstation (CLEW) fingerprint capture system for identifying the deceased. 2

The staff employs special measures for disease control which includes wearing specialized clothing, gloves, masks, and using disinfectants when dealing with the deceased. There are showers used for decontamination of the staff if needed. Any contaminated items are destroyed by a professional company which incinerates all contaminated items. Waste water from an autopsy, which flows into the City of Hanford’s sewer system, contains the bleach and special cleaning soap for morgues and funeral homes, which are used to disinfect the area.

There are three employees who are exclusively assigned to work in the morgue. The Sheriff, who oversees the operations of the County Morgue, is the Sheriff-Coroner for Kings County. Each Deputy Sheriff is also a Deputy Coroner and can be tasked with responding to death scenes and completing the initial paperwork, along with overseeing the transport of the decedent to the morgue. The staff members at the morgue then complete the process in accordance with county/state statutes.

The employees of the morgue take great consideration when dealing with families of the deceased. The new facility has a reception area which staff uses to talk with families regarding the autopsy and the timeframe of completion.

Morgue personnel participate in the autopsy process. The Chief Deputy and Senior Deputy Coroner attend the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Coroner School, annual training events, and have many years of field experience handling the deceased as deputy sheriffs. Also, every deputy sheriff within the department is trained to preserve the initial death scene. They are also trained in basic duties of a deputy coroner before acting alone as a patrol deputy. Kings County contracts out for forensic pathologist services.

Since the local hospital does not have its own morgue, the County Morgue takes temporary possession of the decedents from the facility until other arrangements can be made.

The estimated County Morgue budget for Fiscal Year 2014/2015, which includes, but is not limited to, the salaries of employees, office expenses, maintenance and equipment, medical services, and monthly expenses was $854,579.04. As of March 2015, $491,408.44 had been expended. As an aside, there is no cost to family if an autopsy is performed because it is required by statute. If a family wants one for its own reasons, a family would make arrangements for an autopsy via a private pathologist at another facility.

As far as unclaimed bodies are concerned, the County does have an obligation to try to find the families. They employ all investigative tools to contact the family of the deceased, such as taking fingerprints, if possible, using specialized search databases, and going door-to-door if necessary to locate the next of kin. If no one claims the body, the County cremates the deceased at its own expense. The cost for a cremation is from $800 3 to $900. The ashes are kept for two years if not claimed; they are then buried at the County’s expense.

Findings and Recommendations

None

COMMENTS

The Kings County Grand jury thanks the staff of the Kings County Morgue for their cooperation during the tour and interview.

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