CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Nueces County leaders unanimously decided Wednesday to stop performing all out-of-county autopsies, pending 90-day notice.
This move comes as the county looks for ways to cut costs following a potential multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
Nueces County Pct. 4 Commissioner Brent Chesney brought up the possibility of suspending out-of-county autopsies when discussing how much business the county's medical examiner's office takes in.
"If we eliminate the out-of-county autopsies, then we will be limiting our exposure," he said. "We will not be forced to hire a third doctor, and we will be serving Nueces county residents in a statutory manner that we're supposed to do."
The medical examiner's office currently services 18 counties outside of Nueces County. The county only earns $138 per autopsy.
Nueces County Pct. 2 Commissioner John Marez said the procedures do not benefit the office enough to keep the practice going.
"Had we been able to capitalize that money back into general fund, or even a specific fund, then the medical examiner's office itself could have paid for itself, or a good chunk of it," he said.
While Marez does support the decision to suspend out-of-county autopsies, he does want commissioners to reconvene on the issue given the overload it will have on surrounding counties.
"I do want us to explore this in the future, maybe as we get better footing," he said. "But I think now that we've done this, we've potentially sent 18 counties scrambling, and I'm sure the private sector will come in and maybe cover this."
Nueces County Judge Connie Scott said that with the current state of the county's budget, every penny needs to be accounted for.
"Given the financial situation that the county is in and understanding from the previous report that we got at the last commissioner court, and the cost to the county, I think this is beneficial for us right now, it's prudent for us to be responsible in this situation," she said.
Nueces County will stop performing autopsies for other counties beginning in mid-November.
Nueces County Medical Examiner Dr. Timothy Fagen resigned from his position effective immediately Wednesday.
Fagen was the highest-paid medical examiner in Texas, with a yearly base salary of $500,000.
Nueces County Pct. 1 Commissioner Robert Hernandez said that that now that the work load will be less, it's worth reevaluating the medical examiner's pay to see if it's serving the county and taxpayers.
"To give the medical examiners of that time...to help their pay. So if we can do without it, because at this time it wasn't being beneficial to tax payers or to the county. So I support this decision," he said.
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