Ada County approves additional $100,000 contingency for coroner to cover temporary pathology services; office seeks added forensic staff

Ada County commissioners on June 17 approved a $100,000 contingency allocation for the coroner’s office to secure temporary pathologist services and provide an overlap period while new pathologist staff come on board.

Coroner (John, name given in meeting remarks) told the board the office had previously requested additional funding and that the newly approved $100,000 is intended to pay for rented pathologist services and to allow about a two-month overlap between existing and incoming pathologists so the new hire can acclimate and enable current staff to catch up. The coroner said activity is “well ahead of the five‑year average” and described recent work supporting a multi‑fatality incident from Fremont County that required autopsy, identification and coordination with foreign consulates for DNA collection.

Why it matters: the coroner’s office handles public-safety and public-health functions (death investigation, autopsy and identification). The additional contingency funds fund essential services that cannot be delayed while recruiting and onboarding replacement pathologists. The board also discussed the office’s staffing mix; the coroner confirmed the office has three pathologists and five forensic autopsy technicians and said a forensic autopsy technician position was requested in the current budget to add capacity.

Staffing, training and agreements noted at the meeting:

- Staffing levels discussed: three pathologists currently on staff; five forensic autopsy technicians with a requested sixth position in the budget (forensic autopsy technician). The coroner said the requested technician position was included in departmental budget requests.

- The board approved clinical-experience agreements for students (clinical rotations) used for learning experiences; the coroner said students typically stay one month to six weeks and that students generally add teaching time rather than reduce staff workload.

- An IT/consulting agreement (Mythix) was described during the agreements discussion: the board approved a contract allowing up to 1,000 consulting hours at $185 per hour if Ada County IT cannot perform the required work; procurement and operations staff clarified that County IT will be consulted first before engaging the consultant.

Board action: a motion to authorize the additional $100,000 in contingency funds directed to the coroner’s office passed on a voice vote during the meeting. The coroner thanked the board after the vote.

What the record shows and what it does not: the transcript records the board approving the $100,000 contingency and notes staffing counts (three pathologists, five techs). The transcript does not include exact contract dollar totals for procurement awards or the final salary/grade for the requested forensic autopsy technician; those details are recorded in departmental budget documents rather than the open meeting transcript.

Next steps noted: the coroner’s office will use contingency funds to contract temporary pathology services during the transition period and will continue recruitment for permanent staff; the County’s IT department will first determine whether internal resources can perform needed IT work before invoking the Mythix consulting hours authorization.