McCracken County Fiscal Court Workshop held Monday, May 14th at 5:00 at the McCracken Co. Courthouse. More than thirty supporters of Amanda Melton attended and many addressed the court protesting the proposed reduction in salary.
Today we share research and statistics relating to the McCracken County Coroner’s office controversy presented to the McCracken County Fiscal Court by Dr. Laurie Ballew, ED.D. D.O. DFAPA, on Monday, May 14th, 2018.
Dr. Ballew compares the Kentucky metro areas of Davies County (Owensboro) and Hardin County (Elizabethtown) to the McCracken County metro area. While these metro areas are comparable in size to Paducah, both Hardin and Davies County Coroner’s offices operate with budgets at least twice that of the McCracken County Coroner’s office.
It is important to note that the Fiscal court reduced the McCracken County Coroner’s overall budget by 30% in 2016. The court now intends to take the unprecedented step of reducing the salary of the McCracken County Coroner effective January 1st, 2019, the same date that the presumptive next Coroner, Amanda Melton, would take office. It is, at this time, as yet unknown what the amount of the reduction will be. The matter has been discussed at two Fiscal Court workshops and will be decided at a workshop to be held Friday, May 18th at 9:00 a.m. at the McCracken County Courthouse.
The following is Dr. Ballew’s research:
For clarification: Hospice deaths, no matter where they occur, do not require a phone call to the coroner. They are exempt. We do fax the coroner a notification of the death but we are not required to call the coroner.
I totally agree with this current and factual information presented. As a retired Physician Assistant who practiced in the discipline of Mental Health, I can add that it takes a special person to hold the office of Coroner and to want to be a candidate for such a taxing position.