HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. --The spike in heroin overdoses and drug-related deaths across Indiana are causing county coroners to ask the state for more money.
Hamilton County Coroner, John Chaflin, said his office’s resources are dwindling as the area has already had 12 deaths in 2017. This is a major increase from 2014 where 18 deaths were caused by drug overdose.
In October 2015, 15 people died from heroin overdose in the county, and at the time, Hamilton County was ranked ninth in the state for the number of heroin overdoses and overdose deaths.
Chaflin said this problem isn’t new, as he has been asking for more money for the past three years. As more drug-related deaths occur, more autopsy need to be performed.
"We'll probably go into this next year with 180,000. This year we have 153. As the caseload goes up in the percentage of autopsies increase, we have to look forward and project that,” he said.
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The Hamilton County Coroner’s Office is asking for an additional $27,000 as a single autopsy costs about $2,000.
Money is an issue for coroners, but space is also a challenge.
Chaflin said officials do not have enough room for the number of deceased people coming into the system. He said the county is considering building an independent morgue to ensure there is enough space for the deceased for the next 20 years.
The Marion and Madison County coroners said they are also asking for more money this year.
The coroner from Madison County said the past three months have been the busiest she’s been in the past 28 years.
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