Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Court divided on body removal

Countywide body removal?

Countywide body removal.

Countywide body removal!

Gary Hicks, Nevada County Coroner, brought up the subject of countywide body removal to the Nevada County Quorum Court Monday, Feb. 7, saying a local funeral home would enter into an contract with the county to do this for a penny a year.

In addition, he said, the funeral home would purchase a refrigeration unit to preserve the bodies picked up, and would take the remains wherever the family wanted.

This sparked emotional discussion from some members of the court. Justices of the Peace Arval Mason and Myrna Waters balked at the idea of bodies being removed from the home for examination by the coroner.

Hicks attempted to explain the idea behind countywide body removal. First, he said, the court has been talking about buying a refrigeration unit to preserve bodies for months, and had also talked about the possibility of there being a regional agreement with a refrigeration unit.

The county, he said, doesn't need to buy the refrigeration unit, nor does it have the funds available for such a purchase.

Hicks told the court he is required to examine every death occurring in the county and wants to do the job right. He further explained it's difficult to examine a body in the home with family members around. The coroner, he said, has the authority to remove a body from where the death occurred in order to properly examine it.

The funeral home, according to Hicks, would furnish him long distance telephone service, purchase a refrigeration unit to preserve the bodies and provide him space for proper examinations. The funeral home, which was not named during the meeting, would also take the remains to the funeral home of the family's choice.

Waters and Mason argued about having the bodies removed by a funeral home not selected by the families. Mason talked about the death of his father and trauma involved, while Waters said she didn't want her remains taken anywhere but the funeral home of her choice. Both questioned the possibility of added expense to the families for the transportation.

"I'm not in the funeral business," Hicks said, "I don't know if there would be any extra cost for the funeral."

He pointed out William Mullins, the former acting coroner, worked with the Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home as a part-time employee. He added most county coroners in the state are similarly employed by funeral homes.

Discussion on the topic was going nowhere during the meeting, so Nevada County Judge James Roy Brown asked for volunteers to be on a committee to delve into the issue. Susie Meeks, Willie Wilson and Curtis Lee Johnson volunteered, and all live inside the Prescott city limits. No one representing the county at-large stepped forward.

The committee met Wednesday, Feb. 9. However, most of the discussion revolved around how the court wouldn't move forward on the issue, and it was decided not to make any recommendation at the March meeting.

Hicks, who was on hand to talk with the committee, pointed out bodies don't have to be embalmed, but can be refrigerated instead. But, he said, funeral homes don't tell people this and charge anywhere from $450 or more for embalming services.

During the quorum court meeting Hicks provided the JPs with a report of his first month's activities.

He said he worked eight cases, completing one. The others require more paperwork before they'll be done.

According to the report, Hicks worked 108.5 hours in January on coroner duties and another 122 for the county in other capacities, driving 544 miles using his personal vehicle.

He asked the Court to approve an ordinance fixing the number of deputies the coroner can have. Amendment 59 requires this be done. Ben and Eddie Brazzel acted as deputy coroners in the past.

Hicks also discussed the pagers being used by the coroner's office. The two pagers don't work properly, he said, and are costing $32.10 a month for two, or $422.40 a year. The Court agreed to use these pagers one more month, then go to a different company.