County coroners in Alabama are facing ongoing issues with funding and support, according to the Alabama Coroner's Association president and Shelby County Coroner Lina Evans.
After hearing from coroners, Evans said she is calling for statewide changes to funding and resources.
According to data compiled by the association, the average salary for a coroner in Alabama is $21,000, excluding medical examiners in counties such as Jefferson, where the coroner is a medical examiner. In some cases, the salary includes expenses, such as paper, body bags, personal protection equipment and supplies. Evans is the highest-paid coroner, making $75,000 a year. Still, she said that is not enough for a county with over 238,000 people.
The coroner position tracks unnatural deaths and responds to them. However, Evans said there is much more to the job.
"In most of our counties, we do not have a health officer," she said. "So, we are, by default, our health officer. I tell everybody in the coroner's association that we are really the last data collectors. So, we are the last ones to go out and collect data on why someone died, how they died, and it's important to collect this data for prevention efforts.
"There are two things that affect a family for a long time, and that's a birth and a death. Every family deserves to know why and how their loved one's death came about," Evans added. "We need to be able to do that consistently and accurately and to accurately complete the death certificate. When you have an accurate and complete death certificate, we will be able, as Alabama, to know why our citizens are dying and ultimately try to throw prevention efforts toward those causes of death."
Coroners are on call 24/7 and often answer calls in the middle of the night. Evans said that is why each county should have a deputy coroner.
Evans is calling on all coroners to have a county-based office and morgue, equipment and a budget line item equal to other elected officials in county government.
"Coroners are typically the last thought when it comes to county officials and really in a lot of counties aren't treated as equals when it comes to an elected official," Evans said. "And what I mean by that is there are many counties where the coroner does not even have an official county office. The county does not give them an office, does not give them a computer or phone and all of the stuff that you would need to run an office, run an official business per se. So, there's lack of support from the counties themselves because there's no mandate legally like there is with other offices and with other officials."
Some counties have struggled to find quality candidates for the coroner position due to the challenges.
"What's really frustrating about it all is that when you do not pay for the office, you are going to end up getting a candidate that will take that less amount of money, and that isn't always a strong candidate for office," Evans added. "So, that old adage of you get what you pay for is very true when it comes to the coroners."
Evans said she has looked at the coroner systems of other states, and she believes Alabama should take note.
"There are other states where we have coroner systems, and they are state-mandated, legislatively mandated to provide a minimum salary for coroners," Evans explained. "But here in Alabama, that is not the case. So, it's just whatever your county feels like paying you, and it's difficult in a lot of cases to go back and get that changed whenever you want to increase your salary because first of all, you have to have support from your county commission. You have to have support from the legislators, and then it has to go to legislation and make it through the legislative session. So, it's kind of difficult to do that."
Some coroners, such as Elmore County Coroner Dalan Gassett, have come forward to request additional benefits. Many have hit roadblocks because commissioners are hesitant to grant a large raise mid-term. Gassett approached the commission for three years, requesting a raise. After he was denied, Gassett decided not to run for re-election in November.
Evans proposes mandating a salary for coroners based on county population. However, she foresees challenges in getting lawmakers to support changes to what she calls "archaic legislation."
"It's not a priority," Evans added. "Dead people don't vote. That's what I've been told before. Dead people don't vote. But their families do. And their families deserve to have those answers. No matter what your population is, the death investigation and the person investigating should be consistent from Greene County to Madison County to Baldwin County to Houston County. It should receive the same services that any other county receives."
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