[Santa Barbara] Grand jury report highlights concerns with Corner's Bureau facility

The Santa Barbara County grand jury recently released a report that claims the county Coroner’s Bureau facility should be replaced as soon as possible, stating that problems with the office pose health and safety risks for staff members and the public.

Among the issues, the report claims, is that all autopsies are completed in a single room. This is a problem because the building doesn’t have an isolation room to handle high-risk cases in which the spread of airborne pathogens is a possibility.

Past grand juries have noted that the building needed a new ventilation system to prevent pathogens from entering other parts of the building. The building received a new system in 2017, however, the system releases discharges from the building’s roof and isn’t monitored. This means pathogens could be released into the atmosphere, the report claims.

The report also raised concerns about staff members conducting autopsies on gurneys rather than on stainless steel tables.

“It was observed that the gurney used for the autopsy is cleaned by hand and drained by lifting and tilting the gurney in order to drain the residue into the sink in the autopsy room,” the report states.

Along with the infrastructure changes, the grand jury recommends that the county Board of Supervisors establish the county coroner position as a separate position from the county sheriff. Currently, Sheriff Bill Brown fills both roles.

According to the grand jury’s report, which was released on May 11, 40 other counties throughout the state also use this joint sheriff-coroner system. The remaining 17 counties have a medical examiner or somebody else solely serving in the position. The report claims the counties that operate under this joint system are not subject to the same mandatory state or national accreditation as those who use a different system.

“A medical-examiner model operates under more stringent regulations and must meet national accreditation and quality-assurance standards,” the report states.

Agencies identified in grand jury reports, which in this case include the Sheriff’s Office and the Board of Supervisors, have 60 and 90 days, respectively, to respond to the claims and recommendations listed in the document. Agencies can either fully or partially agree or disagree with the findings and state whether the jury’s recommendations will be implemented.

Earlier this year, the grand jury released a report that highlighted overcrowding and other problems within the county’s detention facilities.

Santa Maria Sun

BY ZAC EZZONE

May 27, 2020