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Crow Wing County staff propose adding $50 medical examiner fee to county-funded burial policy
Summary
County staff told the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 18 they want to update the county'funded burial policy to include a $50 medical examiner fee charged when cremation requires medical examiner sign-off; commissioners expressed informal agreement and staff said they can bring a formal action if needed.
Kara Terry, a Community Services staff member, told the Crow Wing County Committee of the Whole on Feb. 18 that county policy already requires the county to pay for cremation or earth burial when a decedent and family lack prepaid funeral plans or funds, citing Statute 261.035.
Tina Eberchowski, a supervisor in Incumbents (Incumbentments in the transcript), described current county limits for immediate services: the county currently pays up to $2,900 for cremation (plus transportation costs when transfer is more than 20 miles) and up to $3,900 for earth burial. Eberchowski said most county-funded burials are cremations.
Eberchowski said funeral homes have begun listing a separate medical examiner fee on their itemized costs for cremations that require medical-examiner sign-off. She reported contacting the Ramsey County medical examiner''s office, which verified the charge is $50. Because some funeral homes have been listing higher amounts (she said she had seen $50, $75 and $100 listed), staff recommended updating the county'funded burial policy to explicitly cover a maximum $50 medical-examiner fee when applicable.
Commissioners asked questions about who chooses cremation versus earth burial and whether the county could require the less-costly option when taxpayers are paying. Staff responded that the statute (identified in the meeting as Statute 261.035) requires the county to honor a decedent's stated preference or, if known, religious beliefs; when the decedent's wishes are unknown, staff said they rely on family statements.
There was informal agreement among commissioners to absorb the $50 fee rather than contest it; one commissioner said they were troubled by small additional charges but did not oppose covering the $50 cost. Staff said they do not usually bring routine policy changes to the full board for approval but can return with a request for board action if the board prefers.
Staff also showed comparative data from other counties and historical application counts and recoveries. They said the county's $2,900 cremation limit is within the range reported by peer counties and noted application volumes vary year to year.
Staff said they would update the policy language to include the $50 medical examiner fee cap and can bring the revised policy forward if the board requests formal action.
