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Champaign County coroner reports rising caseload, requests additional deputies
Summary
Coroner Lori Brower told the board the office is understaffed amid rising deaths, has improved organ‑donation processing, and requested funding to add three deputies to cover 24/7 calls.
Coroner Lori Brower reported to the Champaign County Board that the coroner’s office is experiencing a staffing crisis and rising caseloads and requested the board begin a process to add three deputy coroner positions.
Brower told the board the office has been operating with three full‑time deputies on staff and two vacancies that have been filled but not yet started. Since December 1 the office has tracked an increase in deaths: at the same time last year (April 23, 2024) the county had recorded 597 deaths; as of the report on April 23, 2025 the total was 645, Brower said. Homicides and other categories have increased, and the office is responding to calls that can last three to eight hours per incident.
Brower said she has centralized organ‑procurement approvals to herself to reduce burden on deputies and improve coordination with procurement organization Gift of Hope. “All of those cases come directly to me now. They don't go through the deputies, and I review them all so that the deputies don't have to. ... 100% of the cases presented to me have been approved for donation,” she said.
She also reported finishing work clearing unclaimed property and described long‑standing inventories of DNA cards, histology slides and tissue samples that will require additional work and expense to dispose of safely. Brower told the board that neutralizing and disposing of formalin‑preserved tissue is costly: the neutralizer she cited costs $238 per 5‑gallon container and disposal is limited to small quantities per month under environmental rules.
Brower asked the board to start a conversation and process to fund three additional deputies. She said county comparisons and internal workload calculations suggested the office would need more deputies to meet 24/7 coverage without overwork. Board members asked about death‑certificate processing times, pathologist recruitment and potential revenue options; Brower said office efficiencies have reduced an open backlog and that she has contacted Carle, the University of Illinois College of Medicine and others about shared or contracted pathology services.
No formal appropriation or hiring action was taken at the meeting; the coroner’s request was made as part of the office update and would require further budgetary action.
