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DuPage coroner urges added staffing, cites rising caseloads and traumatic workload
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Summary
Coroner Judith Lucas and county coroner staff described a sustained increase in complex death investigations, high turnover among deputy coroners, and requested one additional deputy coroner position and $150,000 for personnel to reduce overtime and retain experienced staff.
Coroner Judith Lucas told the DuPage County Finance Committee on Oct. 28 that the coroner's office needs more staff to handle a nearly doubled caseload and the emotional and operational demands of modern death investigations.
"This job was very difficult when I began, but for many reasons has become increasingly so in recent years," said Steven Coleman, a coroner's office employee who spoke during public comment, describing routine exposure to homicides, suicides, overdoses and decomposed bodies. Jim Kabinski, another long‑time deputy, said the chronic stress of the work contributed to a recent life‑saving cardiac surgery and urged greater recognition and compensation for deputies.
Lucas said the office has not had a head‑count increase since 2008 and that reported cases handled by the office rose from 3,936 (2008) to 6,542 most recently. She said the office has seen increases in unidentified and unclaimed decedents that require time‑intensive forensic work, including dental, anthropological and DNA comparisons, and that the office is heavily dependent on on‑the‑job training from senior deputies.
The coroner asked the committee to support one additional deputy coroner position and requested $150,000 in personnel funding (a figure Lucas said was reduced from an earlier request she had proposed). Lucas said the county pays for most operating costs out of coroner fee revenue but that retaining experienced staff is critical to avoid loss of institutional knowledge and rising overtime costs.
Board members pressed process and collective bargaining concerns; one member noted raises and related salary matters are subject to union negotiations. The chair and the committee said salary and contract matters should be addressed through collective bargaining channels and deferred further salary negotiations to the appropriate committee or process.
Why it matters: Coroner staffing affects the county's ability to investigate suspicious deaths, identify decedents, and support grieving families while managing public‑health and criminal investigations.
What was not decided: The committee did not vote to increase the coroner's head count or appropriate the requested personnel funds at this meeting. Lucas said she reduced her original ask and that the office will work through the county's budget and bargaining processes.
Provenance: Public comments from Steven Coleman and Jim Kabinski and Coroner Judith Lucas's presentation appear at the public comment segment and the later coroner budget discussion (transcript timecodes ~00:08:22, ~00:11:39 and ~01:12:36).
