Franklin County Approves Medical Examiner Contract

The annual contract for Franklin County’s medical examiner was unanimously approved by the county commission Tuesday.

The contract with St. Louis University provides the services of Mary E. Case, a medical doctor, as the county’s medical examiner.

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s worth every penny that she’s paid for her services,” said Presiding County Commissioner John Griesheimer.

The county has been contracting with Case since 1991. This was around the same time that Franklin County was designated a first-class county.

“It’s a very valuable service we must have,” County Counselor Mark Vincent said.

The annual contract is for $246,231, and that includes Case’s pay and the other aspects of providing the medical examiner services. The contract is based on a case load of 600-900 deaths annually.

The new contract is $18,577 more than the current contract.

The medical examiner responds to deaths in the county, noted Don Jones, captain of field operations for the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office.

“Sometimes we encounter deaths in peculiar circumstances that we don’t have the expertise here to properly identify,” Jones said.

Nothing slips through the cracks with Case as medical examiner, Jones added.