Busy Year in County Coroner's Office

Kim Rhodes was elected in November to fill out the term of the late Duane Guffey after having been appointed to the office earlier in the year following Guffey's death in February. Rhodes noted it was a very busy year for the office. She said with the sudden death of Guffey, the office was in a state of transition from February through November.

Rhodes said, "My staff has done an outstanding job of reorganizing and updating the entire office. We have returned numerous articles to families that have been in the evidene vault for the last six to eight years. This included cash, wallets, Social Security cards, jewelry, weapons, cellphones and personal photos. We have also destroyed thousands of prescription pills that were in the vault and should have been destroyed a long time ago. We have also destroyed numerous blood/urine samples in the refrigerator that were no longer needed as evidence."

Rhodes thanked Effingham County Deputy Coroner Bruce Bowen, the retired long-time Fayette County coroner. She thanked Bowen for "his assistance and expertise. He has been a great asset to this office and our personnel."

Rhodes thanked the County Board for "their support and patience during this timeframe." She said her office is in the process of implementing new public safety programs.

Here are the numbers from the Coroner's Office for the Fiscal Year December 1, 2017 through November 30, 2018:

TOTAL DEATHS--395

Hospital In-Patient 80

Nursing Home 133

Assisted Living 24

Motor Vehicles 6

Emergency Room 34

Home 112

Other 6

Coroner Reponse 98

Autopsies 29

Suicides 10 (Gun 5, Hanging 3, O/Drugs 1, Antifreeze 1)

Fatal Drug Overdoses 10

Rhodes reported 1395.5 hours worked by her office from March through November, an average of 41 hours/week.