Johnson, Unicoi leaders seek answers on ETSU forensic fee hikes

A nearly $50,000 increase over three years in a multi-million-dollar budget might not immediately stand out, but it became a point of contention for Johnson County Mayor Larry Potter. In the weekly county budget meetings over the last month, Potter has expressed his disdain for the proposed payment schedule sent by East Tennessee State University's Forensics Department for medical examiner and forensic services. Currently, Johnson County pays $41,580 a year for those services. Under ETSU's proposed three-year plan, that total would increase to $57,013 in 2026-27, $72,947 in 2027-28 and $91,172 in 2028-29. The increase over three years would be 37.11% in the first year and 119% by the third year. There is a difference between "medical examiner" and "forensic services." According to the proposed payment schedule, medical examiner fees would be $5,628 in 2026-27, while forensic services would be $51,385, meaning the medical examiner would be around 9.87% of the total cost. These splits increase to $11,593 and $61,354, respectively, in 2027-28, and $17,915 and $73,257 in 2028-29. The medical examiner's percentage of the money paid to ETSU increases to 15.89% in 2027-28, and then 19.95% in the final year of the contract. In response, Potter has told the budget committee multiple times in May that he would not sign the contract until changes were made. The William L. Jenkins Forensic Center offers medical examiner and forensic autopsy services for Johnson, Unicoi, Carter and Washington counties. Greene, Hancock, Hawkins and Sullivan counties receive forensic autopsy services. Johnson County has no other options for a medical examiner and forensic autopsy services, Potter has told the budget committee. It's not just Johnson County seeing increases in the autopsy and forensics contract. Unicoi County Mayor Garland "Bubba" Evely told The Tomahawk that his county got a contract that charges "close to double" the previous one at the end of the contract. Potter and Evely held a video conference meeting with ETSU on the subject on Friday, June 5. Potter said June 5, there were no changes to the proposed contract, but they are supposed to meet in person "soon." In Washington County, home to Johnson City and ETSU, the draft budget did not have an increase in the county medical examiner line for the upcoming fiscal year. The current medical examiner's rate of $325,000 does not increase in 2026-27. It had a slight increase from fiscal year 2024-25 from $323,127 to $325,000. The clock is ticking for the counties as their budgets must be approved by the end of June. A request for comment sent to ETSU Forensics Center Director of Operations Laura Beth Parsons was redirected to ETSU Media Relations, who did not reply by The Tomahawk's deadline.