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County administrator proposes formal policy for indigent burials after rise in cases
Summary
Chief administrative officer Peter Covert told commissioners he will present a draft policy to formalize how the county evaluates and handles indigent burial requests after an increase in such burials over the past two years.
Houston County’s chief administrative officer told commissioners the county needs a formal policy for handling indigent‑burial requests and asked that the item be added to the commission’s Monday agenda.
Peter Covert, speaking to the commission, said the county currently lacks a written, countywide policy that lays out procedures consistent with state law and a transparent process to determine indigency. “Since I have been with the county, we've had over 55 indigent burials,” Covert said, and he added that more than 30 of those occurred in the last two years.
Covert said that, under state law, the county must document proof that a person is unable to pay for burial expenses; his proposal is to add a formal policy to the county policy manual that would set a clear, public procedure for evaluating requests and documenting eligibility.
Commissioners voted to add the proposed policy to the next meeting agenda so the board can review the draft language and consider formal adoption. Covert said he would provide the commission with the draft policy after the meeting.
