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Coroner reports 87 deaths in 2025, asks for increased budget and portable radio
Summary
Codington County Coroner Terry Sorensen reported 87 deaths investigated in 2025 and asked the board to increase his office budget for staffing, supplies and radios; commissioners agreed to consider buying one portable radio now and defer further purchases.
County Coroner Terry Sorensen presented the office's year‑end statistics for 2025 and an update for 2026, and requested additional budget authority for staffing and equipment.
"For '25, we, investigated 87 deaths here in Coddington County," Sorensen said, listing 62 male and 25 female decedents, 68 natural deaths, six suicides (all by firearms), 13 accidents and zero homicides or undetermined cases. He said 83 of the 87 cases occurred inside Watertown city limits and the county paid for one autopsy in 2025.
Sorensen told commissioners he is requesting increased personal‑services funding — including about $32,000 for labor to cover himself and two deputies — and higher supply and equipment lines to cover items such as body bags, a county cooler rental and new portable radios. He gave a preliminary total expenditure figure and said the department's 2027 total would be about $91,250 as drafted.
Commissioners discussed the timing and scale of radio purchases. Sorensen said the coroner's office currently has no portable radios and described an incident in which staff lost radio contact while outside a vehicle; the chair suggested buying one portable radio now to save costs and revisit additional purchases later. The chair said purchasing one radio could save roughly $6,000 in the near term.
The board did not vote to adopt the coroner's budget at the meeting; the auditor signaled the 2027 provisional budget will be published and budget hearings are scheduled to begin Sept. 1.
