Board adopts ordinance amendment to waive certain medical examiner fees for infants and body donors

The Washington County Board of Supervisors on July 8 approved Ordinance 2026-1 to amend section 7045 of the county code to add two exceptions to routine medical examiner service fees: infants under age one and whole-body donors handled through accredited body-donation organizations. The board voted by voice and the clerk recorded that the motion passed unanimously.

The change was presented as a brief amendment to existing fee rules; staff said there is already an indigent exception in the ordinance and that the new categories would align the county with practices used by many medical examiner offices and would have no major fiscal impact.

Supervisor Kelly said the amendment was “something we need to have a heart about” and said the change was the right thing for Washington County. Supervisor Gall asked whether the ordinance language should make the waiver mandatory rather than discretionary; the board approved a motion to replace “may” with “shall be waived,” a revision the mover said would ensure families or donors do not have to request the waiver through an additional administrative step. Supervisor Krebs seconded the motion.

The clerk read the ordinance language and the board proceeded to a voice vote. The board recorded the motion as passing unanimously. The clerk noted afterward that Miss Pridemore’s recorded vote was not displayed in the panel and asked whether that vote had been recorded.

The ordinance change takes effect according to the county’s normal ordinance publication timeline and will be reflected in upcoming updates to the county code and fee schedules.

Ending: The board moved next to other business; there was no additional public comment on the ordinance change at the time of the vote.