After months of work, the Pulaski County coroner’s new morgue and office space is fully up and running. Coroner John Behny gave an update to the county council and commissioners last week, saying the facility is proving to be a good thing. “I just scratch my head. That place is amazing,” he said. “From what we started with just a few weeks ago to now, we’re tickled to death, just tickled to death. So is everybody else that has to come in there.”
Behny said having a dedicated facility is a great help, when it comes to meeting with families. Additionally, he said negotiations are underway with a couple of neighboring counties whose coroners are interested in renting the space for autopsies.
Pulaski County bought the building, formerly the Winamac Masonic Lodge, last June. In addition to the Coroner’s Office, it also houses the county’s Emergency Management Agency, as well as some storage space. Behny thanked the council and commissioners for their support.
Also during last week’s joint session, the commissioners formally agreed to let Behny accept a new state-level appointment. “There’s a brand new commission that the governor wants to start, focusing on domestic abuse and intimate relation abuse, intimate relation violence,” Behny explained. “It’s a brand new commission. And my name had come up and the Governor’s Office had asked if I would be willing to take part in that and I said ‘I’m honored, if my executives would be willing to back that.”
Behny said the Coroner’s Office is also planning to host a training session on infant death investigations for local law enforcement agencies, as well as a program to help first responders provide resources to families.
