Adopt budget resolution using Public Safety Contingency to fund unanticipated expenditures for Professional and Specialized Services in the Coroner’s Section in the amount of $130,000. (No general fund impact) (4/5 vote required) (Lopez/Johnson)

Pursuant to Government Code Sections 27491 and 27520, the Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Section is responsible for conducting autopsies and postmortem examinations in order to determine the cause of death in cases where there are sudden, unusual, and violent circumstances. The Coroner’s Section utilizes a contracted forensic pathology vendor to obtain these services to as part of their mandated law enforcement duties.
 
From 1997 to 2015 forensic pathology services were exclusively contracted through Forensic Medical Group (FMG). In 2015, an inquiry was made into contracting with Sacramento County to provide the same scope of services that FMG did. Once the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office was authorized to negotiate agreements for their employees to perform forensic pathology for surrounding counties, the Yolo County Coroner moved forward with a contract as an alternative to FMG, with all work being executed by Sacramento County employees at the Yolo County Morgue Facility. This arrangement was successful until November 2021, when Sacramento County indicated it no longer had enough staff to independently send to the Yolo County Morgue, necessitating the transport of decedents by the Coroner’s contracted transport company to the Morgue Facility in Sacramento to receive forensic pathology services. Finally, in December 2021, Sacramento County indicated it could no longer fulfill its contract duties due to lack of staff and advised Yolo County to begin to search for another provider.  
 
Sheriff’s Office staff have been able to contract with two independent forensic pathologists so that service to Yolo County citizens remains uninterrupted.  The pathologists can utilize Sacramento County’s facility and medical assistants until the Sheriff’s Office can hire its own extra help positions to work as medical assistants in the Yolo County Morgue Facility. However, the cost of using Sacramento County’s facility and assistants, plus the new pathologist’s pricing schedule, has resulted in a potential 37% increase to the per service cost. As the Coroner’s budget is small, it cannot absorb this increase and will need an increase in appropriations.  The Sheriff’s Office is actively recruiting extra help medical assistants so that we no longer depend on Sacramento County and the need to transport any more decedents. Once this occurs, we anticipate that expenditures for professional services will stabilize.  

DFS has assisted in obtaining approval from the CAO for the use of $130,000 in Public Safety Contingency. County Counsel has approved the Budget Resolution as to form.