LAKE COUNTY — A complaint against the Lake County Sheriff-Coroner was sent last week to county entities including the board of supervisors, the district attorney and the grand jury.
A Ukiah mortuary alleges in the complaint that the coroner”s office illegally uses contracts with Lake County mortuaries. The complaint alleges families are wrongfully billed for services the mortuaries perform for the coroner.
The board of supervisors” Tuesday meeting agenda includes a renewal of contracts with three mortuaries in Lake County: Jones Mortuary, Jones & Lewis Clear Lake Memorial Chapel and Chapel of the Lakes Mortuary. Approval would renew the existing contracts between the county and the mortuaries for services they perform on behalf of Sheriff Rodney Mitchell, who is also the coroner.
The county does not have a central morgue and contracts with area mortuaries to transport and hold the deceased as an investigation is conducted to determine cause of death.
George J. Leinen, president of Empire Mortuary Services in Ukiah, takes issue with the fact that the contracts say that the mortuaries are to bill the decedent”s next of kin or estate for the cost of those services.
Empire Mortuary Services maintains that what happens now is Lake County mortuaries under contract with the coroner”s office send Empire Mortuary Services a bill for removal fees in Lake County when the deceased”s family chooses Empire.
“Our hands are tied,” Leinen said this week. “We can”t pay those fees or pass them on to a family. State law requires us to itemize the fees, and says that families are only obligated to pay fees for goods and services they have requested and selected themselves. Under these circumstances, where the mortuaries are billing us, some families object to those fees and we cannot pay those fees.”
In the complaint, Leinen cites a recommendation from the California Cemetery and Funeral Bureau. “When specifically asked about mortuaries billing for coroner”s transportation, we were told that the coroner is the only one authorized by law to do this, not mortuaries and the coroner would need to get permission from the board of supervisors, by ordinance, to do this,” Leinen writes.
“While the mortuaries have a right to be paid for their services to the coroner, it is the coroner who is required to pay the fees out of his budget and not the decedent”s families.” Leinen contends that the contracts are being used in place of law. He cites a recent letter from Mitchell”s office that explains why the coroner”s office would not pay fees in a particular case where the deceased”s name is crossed out. Leinen said his company decided to absorb the coroner”s fees for the next year, but stopped when one family refused to pay or to allow Empire to pay on their behalf. Leinen said he explained his dilemma to Mitchell and recommended that he ask the county to pass an ordinance allowing him to collect the fees from the families of the deceased.
Leinen is asking the board to either pass the recommended ordinance or stop the current practice. He referred to California Government Code section 27472, which details the coroner”s duties and how payment is to be made. According to Mitchell, the referenced section of Califonia law does not apply to this situation. “That law pertains to what the coroner bills, not to what the mortuaries bill. We collect no fees, we charge no one. He”s looking at a law that doesn”t apply here.”
According to the existing contracts up for renewal Tuesday, the mortuaries may bill the Lake County Sheriff-Coroner if payment is not received from the deceased”s estate or next of kin within 120 days of submission.
“If the complainant feels it is inappropriate for a private mortuary to charge a fee, I would ask you, does he charge a fee? Does he do it for free?”
Leinen said he does not charge a removal fee.
According to California law, “If authorized by the county board of supervisors by ordinance, the coroner, whenever he or she takes custody of a dead body pursuant to the law, may charge and collect from the person entitled to controlthe disposition of the remains … the actual expense incurred by the coroner in removing the body from the place of death and keeping the body until its release to the person responsible for its interment.” The law further states that the charge should not be more than $100, should not be imposed on a person who proves to be “indigent” and should not be charged when the body removed is that of a child less than 14 years old or when the death resulted from a crime.
“The charge, if not paid, may be considered a part of the funeral expenses and paid as a preferred charge against the estate of the decedent,” according to the law.
Contact Tiffany Revelle at trevelle@record-bee.com.
