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Committee approves coroner mutual-aid agreement with statewide association
Summary
LaSalle County committee approved a resolution authorizing the county coroner to join the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association mutual aid agreement; counties that provide aid remain financially responsible for their personnel and equipment.
On April 7 the LaSalle County Committee on Appointments, Legislation and Rules approved a resolution authorizing the county coroner to participate in the Illinois Coroners and Medical Examiners Association mutual aid agreement and forwarded the resolution to the full county board.
Committee members said the agreement is intended to prepare LaSalle County to provide or receive assistance during large or complex incidents that local offices cannot handle alone. The resolution cites the Illinois Constitution and the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act as authority to enter the intergovernmental agreement and authorizes the county board chairman and the county coroner to sign the document on behalf of LaSalle County.
The committee clarified financial responsibility under the agreement. Pat Herman explained that the agreement assigns responsibility to the county providing aid: “Each, the agreement says each county should be responsible for what they provide but it's up to the coroner to decide each individual coroner to decide what they can provide. But to the extent our coroner provides aid to another county our county is responsible for that. That means paying those employees, if they're employees the equipment, things of that nature. But the coroner has a discretion to decide what aid to send.”
Coroner Rich Pluck said the update was prompted by a recent election cycle that produced 23 newly elected coroners statewide and by a routine review showing the prior mutual-aid documents had not been updated. He described the agreement as discretionary and practical: counties may request personnel or equipment, and a coroner can decline if the request exceeds local capacity or budget.
Committee members asked whether the agreement sets standardized fees or a charge-back process. Staff and counsel said the agreement does not establish a uniform schedule; individual counties and coroners retain discretion over what to send and whether to seek reimbursement. The committee also noted that if a coroner’s expenditures exceeded the office budget, the coroner would need to seek county board approval for additional funds.
The committee approved the resolution by voice vote and forwarded it to the full county board for final action.
