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York County coroner asks council to fund evidence technician as caseload and evidence volumes grow
Summary
Coroner Sabrina Gast asked the council to reconsider management's opposition and fund a full-time evidence technician to manage a growing volume of biological materials, medications and chain-of-custody work the office is currently assigning to deputies.
Sabrina Gast, York County coroner, urged the council to fund a full-time evidence technician, saying the office'which handles death investigations countywide'is increasingly strained by high case counts and large volumes of collected evidence.
Gast told council that about 65% of stored material in the office'including tissue samples and blood cards for DNA'is biological material that must be preserved and inventoried. She said staff counted 62,588 dosages of collected pills between Jan. 1 and April 30, and the count rose to 76,487 pills two weeks later. "It is a constant rotation of what we're seeing," Gast said, adding that deputies must manually inventory and log collected medications and that the evidence work is taking time away from death investigations.
Why it matters: Proper evidence handling and chain-of-custody are essential to forensic investigations, criminal prosecutions and public-health follow-up. Gast said York County and most peer counties have at least a part-time evidence technician; her survey of similar counties showed York and Horry as the only counties without a designated evidence technician.
What Gast proposed: A full-time evidence technician would intake, inventory and log medications and biological samples, transfer autopsy evidence, manage releases to legal next of kin, and operate the county'owned incinerator for pill disposal. Gast said disposal and controlled incineration require staff presence for full-day operations.
Council discussion: A council member noted that last year the coroner requested two positions and the county added one investigator; Gast said she had not asked for two again this year because she did not expect both to be approved. Council members acknowledged the coroner's workload and complimented her staff's response to a recent scene.
Outcome and next steps: The coroner's request was heard during the budget presentations; council members asked staff to supply additional comparative staffing information and to consider the coroner's earlier request for grant-funded positions.
Ending: The coroner emphasized the public-service nature of the work and the need to maintain chain-of-custody and safe disposal practices as case loads grow.
