There was some discussion last week about counties that are handling indigent burial through cremation rather than burial. My county is interested in exploring this option; what steps have others followed to institute the policy?

THank you!

The first step is to have the commissioners court adopt rules under section 694.002(a) of the Health & Safety Code providing for disposition of the bodies of deceased paupers. Since the statute provides no substantive restrictions (other than the requirement that the commissioners court consider information including religious affiliation of the deceased pauper), the rules should provide that county disposition of a pauper's body will be by cremation, as such disposition best accommodates the county's obligation to dispose of the body and the fiscal interests of the county and its taxpayers. A finding to that effect, including some information regarding fiscal impact, should help the rules survive abuse of discretion review. As a practical matter, the rules also should set out the criteria for the determination of when a person qualifies as a "pauper," such that the county is responsible for disposition of his/her body. Although the AG has opined that the county cannot seize assets of a deceased papuer to help fund disposition, indicating the possibility that a "pauper" may be someone whose estate has property of some value, there is scant other guidance for making the initial "pauper" determination. In the absence of definitive guidance otherwise, I think the determination will be substantially similar to a determination of indigency for Fair Defense Act purposes. We're in the process of preparing such rules for our commissioners court. When that's done, I'll be glad to pass them along to you.

Thanks, Scott; I'll keep you informed of what I come up with, also.

Always looking for a way to keep the county solvent - -- - !

OK...I thought I was replying to this topic but I appeared to have started a new topic. See my response to this topic under "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished." Sorry...