Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday approved a plan to establish a coroner scene investigation (CSI) unit that will operate under the sheriff’s office.
Coroner scene investigators respond to unattended deaths. Currently, Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical firefighter-paramedics conduct scene investigations, but a study of LDCFM conducted by Wichita State University last year found that the CSI model impacts availability of emergency medical services.
County Administrator Sarah Plinsky said LDCFM was “not interested in providing the service any longer.” County staff members talked with the private company that currently provides the county coroner services, law enforcement, the district attorney and others to determine what the best option would be moving forward, she said. That led to the county asking the sheriff’s office to take on the task, she said.
“This was not something that I as the sheriff or the sheriff’s office wanted. This is a no-win, no-happy-ending position,” Sheriff Jay Armbrister said, describing it as a “necessary evil.” But he said he wanted the work handled correctly, done diligently and with “as much empathy and compassion as we can possibly afford.”
“I think that’s another good reason why I want it under the sheriff’s office umbrella,” he said.
Armbrister said Tuesday that he thought running the CSI unit through the sheriff’s office could be a conflict of interest.
However, “The way we are structuring this out of the gate is to make sure that this is autonomous, independent and separate from any criminal investigation,” he told the commission Wednesday.
Commission Chair Shannon Reid asked Armbrister to explain what unattended deaths are and what happens if there is a criminal investigation.
Armbrister said when a doctor can sign off as the “attending” doctor, a death is considered an “attended” death. He gave an example of when a doctor has been treating a patient who has had congestive heart failure for a number of years and that patient dies.
But any death that is unexpected or accidental, homicides, suicides, deaths of juveniles, and those involving other various factors are considered unattended.
When a death scene is also a crime scene, Armbrister said, there are protocols already in place because they’ve been in practice for decades. Coroner scene investigators and law enforcement all do their own paperwork and take their own photos and measurements, he said. If there is evidence collected, that is handled by law enforcement. The CSI workers would not be sworn employees of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office but would operate under its investigations unit.
Plinsky said she’s been really impressed with the team of folks who have been doing this work for the community. “They’re thoughtful, they’re careful, they’re detail-oriented, they’re empathetic. They’re highly trained professionals.”
However, she said she anticipated that there will be recruitment challenges — it’s difficult work that requires meeting people in very difficult times, and it’s not for everyone.
Coroner services include medical exams and autopsies. Those services are provided by Forensic Medical of Kansas City, a subsidiary of a Nashville, Tenn.-based private company. It acquired Frontier Forensics — the company launched by former county coroner Dr. Erik Mitchell — in 2017, according to its website.
Plinsky said county staff had talked with Forensic Medical about possibly taking on coroner scene investigations, too, but the company’s proposal was “substantially expensive,” and the agreement would have been structured for them to take three hours to arrive to a scene.
Reid said she appreciated the sheriff’s office’s willingness to take on the task.
“I think that for some of the logistical reasons that were mentioned by Sheriff Armbrister, for the quickness of response and the relationships that are likely to be built and would exist amongst those stakeholders and community partners is much more feasible with local- based coroner scene investigators,” she said.
Commission Vice Chair Shannon Portillo said she appreciates that the county is bringing this service in-house rather than relying on contracting out, “because I think it’s important for us to have the capacity to serve our community.”
Commissioner Patrick Kelly said he appreciated the teamwork that went into developing this plan. He said he thought having someone available to be there quickly when families are in those very fragile times was “good government.”
“I appreciate you recognizing that and coming up with a solution that focuses on that,” he said.
A budget in the proposal from the agenda estimated that startup costs for the unit will be close to $141,000. Ongoing annual costs are estimated at about $225,000. The commission unanimously approved the plan.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at mclark (at) lawrencekstimes (dot) com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
