Franklin County BOC to Revisit Body Cooler Request

Franklin County commissioners plan to continue their discussions this week on whether to authorize the purchase of a body cooler for the Franklin County Coroner.

At their regular meeting earlier this month, the board of commissioners heard from Franklin County Deputy Coroner Kenny Smith.

Smith told the board Franklin County has no place to store bodies and purchasing a cooler is not a luxury but a dire necessity.

“In the last six months it’s happened five times where we’ve had nowhere to put them (bodies),” Smith said. “In my 20 years it has never happened to me that we’ve had every single place we’ve had access to filled. The (GBI) Crime lab was absolutely filled this last time with bodies.”

Currently, when the county needs to store a body until it can be transported for autopsy, they are taken to the Hartwell Chapel of Strickland Funeral Home, which has the nearest available cooler.

Smith said after doing some research, he was able to find a three-drawer body cooler for $6,073 from StarSouth Distribution of Tampa, FL.

Smith said Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center CEO Greg Hearn has offered space at the hospital for the cooler, rent free on the condition the hospital can also use it from time to time.

After  hearing from Smith, commission chair Thomas Bridges said he was ready to move forward with the purchase of the cooler, but commissioner Jeff Jacques asked for time to find the money.

In other business, the board is also expected to discuss support for the Broad River Watershed Association’s plan to create a water trail through Franklin County into Madison County, and will also get an update on a number of LMIG road projects.

The board will meet for their regular monthly work session Tuesday evening at 6p at the Franklin Justice Center in Carnesville.