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Coroner urges county to fund morgue space as autopsy, toxicology costs strain budget
Summary
Hampton County Coroner Anna Fields and Chief Deputy Preston Altman told council their office handled 206 deaths last year and is over budget on autopsy and toxicology lines; they asked the council to consider a capital project or dedicated space to house an existing cooler and reduce costly outside storage and facility fees.
County Coroner Anna Fields and Chief Deputy Preston Altman told the Hampton County Council on March 16 that the coroner’s office is facing rising costs and a persistent lack of secure morgue space.
"The coroner's office speaks for the dead," Chief Deputy Preston Altman said, detailing the office’s statutory duties and the extra workload tied to traumatic and out‑of‑hospital deaths. Fields and Altman said the office recorded 206 deaths in the county last year — 109 identified as white, 97 as Black or African American and one other — and that autopsy and toxicology expenses have pushed parts of their budget over plan.
Altman said contracted autopsies through MUSC cost about $1,800 for adults and $1,600 for infants, with x‑rays running roughly $100. Toxicology tests can add about $800–$1,000 per case. From July 1, 2025, to early March, MUSC billed the county about $21,410 for autopsy work, the presenters said. The office has also seen an "abnormal amount" of autopsies this past year, which contributed to the overage.
Fields and Altman described operational hurdles beyond billings. Hampton Regional Medical Center’s morgue, they said, can hold only two decedents and hospital access to that space is limited; the county owns a cooler purchased in 2016 but lacks an appropriate building to install it. Altman said the county’s cooler would hold eight or nine decedents once housed in a suitable facility and that neighboring counties have offered shelves and equipment but the county still needs a secured location with drainage and surveillance.
"So my proposal to council is to possibly make a capital project to build a building," Altman said, urging the council to consider a permanent solution rather than repeated short‑term fixes and recurring fees for outside storage.
Council members pressed for specifics and for the department to include requests in next fiscal proposals. Council suggested the coroner present a cost estimate and include facility and storage requests formally in the FY27 budget so administrators and finance can evaluate possible capital funding or reallocation.
The coroner's office also requested budget adjustments to properly code autopsy and toxicology expenses (previously posted to court proceedings) so future line items reflect actual spending. Fields said the office is working with finance staff to correct postings.
Next steps: Council asked the coroner’s office to prepare a cost analysis and potential capital request to accompany the administrator’s May budget recommendation.
