Butte County Municipal Code Art. XII.5 Coroner Fees

Whenever the coroner takes custody of a dead body pursuant to law, he may embalm the body, and charge and collect a fee from the person entitled to its custody, except when the body is that of a child not more than fourteen (14) years of age or a person for whose burial there is available less than one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00), in which cases the expense of embalming is a county charge. The Coroner's fee shall be as adopted by Resolution of the Board of Supervisors as part of the Butte County Master Fee Schedule.

(Ord. No. 1915, § 1, 4-18-78; Ord. No. 2423, § 1, 8-14-84; Ord. No. 4012, § 2, 12-8-09)

Whenever the coroner takes custody of a dead body pursuant to law, he or she may charge and collect from the person entitled to control the disposition of the remains, as specified in section 7100 of the Health and Safety Code, the actual expense incurred by the coroner in removing the body from the place of death and keeping the body until its release to the person responsible for its interment. The charge shall be as adopted by Resolution of the Board of Supervisors as part of the Butte County Master Fee Schedule, shall not be imposed upon a person who claims and proves to be indigent, and shall not include expenses of keeping the body during the time necessary for the coroner to perform his or her duties in connection with it. The charge, if not paid, may be considered a part of the funeral expenses and paid as a preferred charge against the estate of the decedent.

A person shall be determined indigent if the person is entitled to control the disposition of the remains of a dead body and the person's family income is equal to or less than one hundred fifty percent (150%) of the Federal Declared Poverty Scale in effect on the date the coroner takes charge of the dead body.

(Ord. No. 2423, § 2, 8-14-84; Ord. No. 4012, § 2, 12-8-09)