Opinion ID: 1671268
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: coroner's operational expenses

Text: The statutory provisions regarding coroners clearly place responsibility for payment of the coroner's operational expenses on parish governing bodies. La. R.S. 33:1556(B)(1) provides: B. (1) All necessary or unavoidable expenses, including supplies, incident to the operation and functioning of the coroner's office shall be paid by the parish when such expenses are certified by the coroner as being necessary or unavoidable. The Police Jury does not dispute that it must pay necessary or unavoidable operational expenses, however, in accordance with Reed, 518 So.2d at 1049, the Police Jury claims that many of the items requested by Carriere are not legitimate or reasonable in amount. We agree that Reed limits the mandatory duty of parish governing bodies to fund expenses certified by the coroner as necessary or unavoidable by the standard of reasonableness. The budget request of the coroner must be 1) legitimately related to the function of his office, and 2) it must be in a reasonable amount. Nonetheless, the Police Jury must accept its responsibility to pay all necessary or unavoidable operational expenses so that the coroner's office can properly function. The trial court, affirmed by the court of appeal, ordered the Police Jury to provide Carriere with $96,000 to meet his necessary or unavoidable operational expenses for the year without particularizing the basis for this amount. Therefore, we are required to review the budget request to determine whether the items requested by Carriere are reasonable necessary or unavoidable operational expenses of the coroner's office. We find that the following items meet this standard: ----------------------------------------------------- Mandated Expense Annual Cost ------------------------------------------------------ Accounting Charges $1,800 ------------------------------------------------------ Association and Dues $ 600 ------------------------------------------------------ Banking Expenses $ 180 ------------------------------------------------------ Insurance/Errors and Omissions $1,500 ------------------------------------------------------ Insurance/Non-Owned Automobiles $1,080 ------------------------------------------------------ Medical Supplies $ 600 ------------------------------------------------------ Mobile Phone $ 720 ------------------------------------------------------ Office Copy and Computer Supplies $ 900 ------------------------------------------------------ Pager $ 360 ------------------------------------------------------ Postage $ 900 ------------------------------------------------------ Telephone Service $1,500 ------------------------------------------------------ Mileage Reimbursement $2,400 ------------------------------------------------------ We excluded Carriere's requests for salaries and benefits for ancillary personnel including worker's compensation insurance, as well as, funding to pay one deputy coroner and a doctor on a contract basis. As noted previously, the Police Jury is not required to pay salaries for ancillary personnel of the coroner's office, and Carriere cannot avoid this result by calling deputy coroners and other employees necessary or unavoidable expenses and hiring them on a contract basis. Carriere also included a request for $18,000 in his budget to pay for autopsies on a contract basis. We do not dispute the amount of this request, but it is excluded as a necessary or unavoidable operational expense. Instead, Carriere should bill the Police Jury as these services are rendered because the parish is only responsible for the costs of some contract autopsies, and the amount paid for each one must be approved by the Police Jury pursuant to La. R.S. 33:1560. The approved items provide a total of $12,540 in necessary or unavoidable operational expenses for the coroner's office. However, Carriere is entitled to more than that. The budget request submitted to the Police Jury did not provide dollar amounts for office space, office equipment and supplies, utilities, or janitorial services. We hold that these are necessary or unavoidable operational expenses of the coroner's office. La. R.S. 33:1556(B)(2) provides: (2) When quarters for the coroner's office or a morgue are established by the parish, the parish shall furnish essential supplies and equipment for the office or morgue. We interpret this provision in conjunction with Subsection (B)(1) as giving parish governing bodies a choice: provide the coroner with adequate office space within their available properties or pay rent for the same. If office space is provided, parish governing bodies must also provide essential furniture, equipment, and supplies. If the parish elects to rent office space for the coroner, office equipment and supplies are covered under Subsection (B)(1) as necessary or unavoidable operational expenses. Carriere's budget also gave no dollar amount for transportation and storage of bodies. La. R.S. 33:1556(D) lists transportation of bodies as a recoverable expense of coroners, and Subsection (E) divides the responsibility for paying this cost between parishes and municipalities. A request for funds for this purpose based on the estimated number of bodies that will fall under parish responsibility, along with storage costs for the same would also be a necessary or unavoidable expense that must be funded as an operational budget item by the Police Jury. Once Carriere submits a budget request including dollar amounts for the additional items mentioned above, the Police Jury is instructed to provide Carriere with the entire amount. In accordance with La. R.S. 33:1572, the Police Jury shall first use monies in the Coroner's Operational Fund to fund the coroner's operational budget, and then resort to other funds to pay the remainder. At the end of the year, any surplus amounts will be returned to the Police Jury or may be used as a credit in funding the next year's budget request.