Medical Examiner seeks funding for laboratory contracts and adds an investigator to meet caseloads

The St. Louis Medical Examiner’s Office briefed the Budget & Public Employees Committee on May 13 about FY26 operating needs, emphasizing contract laboratory costs and a modest personnel increase to maintain 24/7 investigative coverage.

"We presently have 23 employees — 16 full time — and we have a responsibility to investigate all deaths that occur within our jurisdiction," Tara Rick, director of operations for the medical examiner’s office, said. She told the committee the office’s primary contracts pay for pathologists (professional medical examiner services), toxicology and histology testing, and for contracted removals and livery (delivery) services that transport decedents to the office.

Mortuary services and testing: Rick explained that mortuary/livery contracts cover removals from scenes and city burials for indigent decedents; the office’s FY26 request increases the mortuary allocation to cover expected removals and burials. She said toxicology and histology costs vary by case because some autopsies require specialized tests or slide preparation.

Staffing and operations: The medical examiner asked for and received one new full-time medical-legal death investigator in FY26 to bring investigative staffing from five to six full-time investigators; investigators rotate shifts to provide 24-hour coverage. Rick said the office’s autopsy technicians (five full time plus a supervisor) handle all decedent processing from receipt through release.

Follow-up and documentation: Rick said the office can supply line-item detail on contract test pricing and that costs can vary with specialized tests. Committee members asked for documentation of current vendor contracts and cost-per-service tables; Rick said she would provide those materials. No committee votes were taken during the hearing.