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<p>Luzerne County Coroner William Lisman said he has been forced to seek more funding next year due to a record increase in unclaimed bodies.</p><p>The county is required by law to bury the deceased within its borders if nobody claims the body. The county pays $750 for the grave and an unceremonious burial at the Maple Hill Cemetery in Hanover Township.</p><p>This year to date, the county has buried 24 unclaimed bodies, compared to 11 in 2017.</p><p>The previous high was 21 burials in 2016, records show.</p><p>Lisman said this year&#8217;s burials would have been significantly higher if his office did not stick to protocol aimed at ensuring the next of kin take ownership when possible.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s definitely an increase of people refusing to claim family members,&#8221; the coroner said. &#8220;The increase is more than double what we had last year.&#8221;</p><p>Pinpointing the reason for the increase is difficult because each case is unique, and Lisman said he does not want to discuss specifics out of respect for privacy, primarily of the deceased.</p><p>His proposed budget, which is among several up for discussion at a Monday night council work session, seeks a 92 percent increase for burials, which would raise the expenditure from this year&#8217;s $11,700 to a requested $22,500 in 2019.</p><p>The county spent $9,111 on unclaimed bodies through Oct. 5 this year, and Lisman said subsequent bills have forced him to seek a budget transfer to cover expenses exceeding the allotted amount. The county spent $6,800 for unclaimed burials in 2017, the proposed budget says.</p><p>Unclaimed burials have ranged from seven to 17 annually from 2010 to 2015, records show.</p><p>Lisman said his office will continue pursuing survivors or assets, if any, in an attempt to recoup the county&#8217;s expense.</p><p>The unclaimed burials are held at the convenience of Maple Hill because the cemetery has provided a discounted rate to help the county. Some survivors have requested notification to attend a county burial, but Lisman has said that courtesy would be unfair to the majority who take ownership of burials, including some who are poor or estranged from the deceased.</p><p><strong>Other budget highlights</strong></p><p>Overall, the coroner&#8217;s office is requesting $555,705 next year, an increase of $18,845.</p><p>Lisman noted his allotment is still well below budgets for coroner&#8217;s offices in other similarly sized counties. In Lehigh County, for example, the office budget is $2.7 million, he said.</p><p>He shaved this year&#8217;s increase, in part, by reducing the request for forensic examinations from $160,000 in 2018 to a proposed $150,000 next year.</p><p>This earmark largely covers autopsies for drug overdose deaths. Instead of performing autopsies for all suspected drug cases, the coroner said he works with police and the county district attorney&#8217;s office to select cases likely to lead to charges against alleged drug suppliers.</p><p>While $141,879 was spent on forensic examinations in 2017, Lisman said he and the district attorney&#8217;s office have enhanced assessments to reduce the number of autopsies. Spending on autopsies through Oct. 5 was $85,532.</p><p>As of Friday, Lisman&#8217;s office logged 126 confirmed drug overdose deaths in the county this year, with another five pending toxicology results.</p><p>That equates to about 13 a month, he said. If the trend continues in November and December, the county will meet or slightly exceed last year&#8217;s number.</p><p>There were 155 overdose deaths in the county in 2017, the third consecutive year of a record high.</p><p>&#8220;So in spite of all the efforts of everyone, drug deaths remain constant,&#8221; Lisman said.</p><p><strong>Budget session</strong></p><p>County council will hold a work session at 5 p.m. Monday to discuss the proposed 2019 budget and meet with audit company representatives about the recent 2017 audit, including Children and Youth issues that caused it to be late.</p><p>The usual Tuesday meeting date was changed due to the election. The work session is in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>The budget portion will focus on the district attorney&#8217;s office and the judicial services and records division, which includes the coroner&#8217;s office.</p><p>The district attorney&#8217;s budget would increase from $4.4 million to $4.6 million under the proposal.</p><p>Judicial services would rise from $4.65 million to $4.88 million. The division also covers the record storage facility in Hanover Township and these offices: deeds/wills, prothonotary, clerk of courts and sheriff/security.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Coroner William Lisman said a new record number of unclaimed bodies had to be buried at the county&#8217;s expense this year. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_TTL041317crimewatch1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Luzerne County Coroner William Lisman said a new record number of unclaimed bodies had to be buried at the county&#8217;s expense this year. </caption0><photoCredit0>Times Leader file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Luzerne County sets new record for unclaimed bodies