Cape Girardeau County commissioners to review medical examiner proposal

Cape Girardeau County Commission members received one response to their request for proposals for medical examiner services and voted to take it under consideration.

Chad Armstrong's proposal was the only one the commissioners received before the Friday, Dec. 15, deadline.

"We'll take that under advisement, we'll review it, and then we'll come back and make a decision about that," Presiding Commissioner Clint Tracy said.

Tracy and Associate Commissioners Paul Koeper and Charlie Herbst had approved a plan during their Oct. 30 meeting to request proposals from potential medical examiners. This came after several members of the public expressed a desire for the county to switch from using an elected coroner to an appointed medical examiner during that meeting.

Many of those who spoke at the October meeting expressed dissatisfaction about how current Coroner Wavis Jordan was doing his job, while opponents of the medical examiner position said it would be more expensive to hire an examiner and associated staff.

The commissioners would need to take action to appoint a medical examiner before the end of the year.

Other business

• The commissioners approved the state holiday calendar for employees. They will get New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, George Washington's Birthday, Truman Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas off.
• They also reappointed three individuals to the county's Mental Health Board: Tracy Metzger, Scott Brandhorst and Jim Ham, whose three-year terms would have otherwise expired Sunday, Dec. 31.
• The commissioners approved a pay request from Sides Construction for the county's Emergency Operations Center as well. The $561,475 request would come from American Rescue Plan Act funding.