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Kane County coroner briefs board on toxicology, autopsy costs and options to save money
Summary
Coroner Monica Silva told the county board the coroner’s office is responsible for determining cause and manner of death, reported 2024 spending on autopsies and toxicology, and proposed options including hiring an in‑house pathologist or building a county toxicology lab.
Dr. Monica Silva, Kane County coroner, told the Committee of the Whole on Feb. 13 that the coroner’s office investigates sudden, unexpected and violent deaths and that rising autopsy and laboratory costs are an item of budgetary concern.
Silva outlined three case categories the office uses — return to medical, sign-out and sign-out unnatural — and described the office’s responsibilities for bodies, family interaction and evidence. She said the coroner’s office is “the chain of custody for the lifeless body” while the sheriff maintains the scene’s chain of custody.
Why it matters: Coroner services affect both public-health reporting and criminal investigations. Silva said toxicology and autopsy work are central to resolving manner-of-death determinations and to public-health tracking for fentanyl and other substances.
Costs and figures Silva gave to the board included estimated per-case toxicology costs of $250–$600 and an autopsy fee of $1,750 per examination. She said the office spent $460,650 on autopsies in 2024 and reported a toxicology total for 2024 (as presented to the committee) that the coroner described verbally during the meeting; Silva offered to provide a year‑by‑year breakdown for the board on request.
Silva outlined three options the county could consider to reduce long‑term costs: hire a full‑time forensic pathologist (with attendant salary and benefits), use clinical judgment to reduce unnecessary autopsies, and build an in‑house accredited toxicology laboratory. Sheriff Ron Hain told the committee that the county has worked for two years on a new Kane County toxicology and forensics lab and that construction will be funded through opioid-settlement funds rather than the general fund.
On practice and ethics, Silva said the office will not omit necessary testing for budgetary reasons: “in no way, shape, or form am I going to ever sacrifice something that needs to be done for the sake of money,” she told commissioners.
Next steps: Silva offered to provide the board with detailed historical data — including comparisons between 2017 and 2024 and early 2025 figures — on autopsy counts and toxicology spending to help budget planning.
