Marshall County coroner urges local control over pay, details mass-fatality planning

Kenny Pratt, Marshall County coroner, told the fiscal court on April 7 that his office has handled 514 cases since he took office and that he served as lead investigator on 321 of those. Pratt outlined duties that include child photo‑review panels, signing cremation authorizations, directing autopsies and toxicology, and coordinating mass‑fatality response sites and trailers. “The blood doesn’t lie,” he said when describing how toxicology and autopsy results inform public‑health and grant work.

Pratt said the coroner’s office has not received a pay raise in more than 24 years and urged the court to consider county‑by‑county salary decisions rather than a state mandate. Members discussed House Bill 138 and its approach to standardizing coroner pay; one commissioner called the bill an “unfunded mandate” for smaller counties that might not be able to absorb new costs. During the discussion commissioners and staff referenced varying county pay and benefit packages and noted that statutory timing matters: changes tied to this cycle must be in place before May 1 in election years to affect the next coroner’s term.

Pratt also described operational investments: two trailers used for mass‑fatality responses, mutual‑aid responses across western Kentucky (including helicopter‑crash responses), and an on‑call policy aimed at reaching scenes within roughly 30 minutes when practical. He said the coroner’s documentation and toxicology work support law‑enforcement investigations and grant applications tied to overdose and traffic deaths.

The court did not take immediate formal action at the April 7 meeting; members asked to continue the discussion and to place a decision on the April 21 agenda so the court can consider options before the statutory deadline. The court noted it can set coroner pay locally and tasked staff and members to review cost implications and comparable county packages before the next meeting.