Coroner establishes Morgue on Watson Government campus in Dallas

Paulding County’s police, emergency services, and coroner’s office are now aided by the addition of something they haven’t had until now – a county morgue. Situated in a secure location on the Watson Government campus behind the courthouse, the facility has officially opened.
The project to establish the facility received its approval as the construction of the new jail and Sheriff’s offices were getting underway in 2018 and remained on track with its projected opening date as of last week.
The county’s first morgue becomes completely functional in about another week, according to Paulding County Coroner Lindsey Eberhart Fuller.
When the facility was green-lighted Eberhart Fuller acknowledged the support from Sheriff Gary Gulledge and former Post 4 Commissioner Tony Crowe for their help to make it happen.
“One of the things I had hoped to accomplish when I ran for Coroner was to obtain a secure, neutral holding facility for our deceased. The morgue being in conjunction with the jail is a giant step in the right direction,” Ms. Eberhart Fuller commented in a previous interview.
The first Paulding County Morgue will have the capacity to store six to eight persons at a time.
Paulding County has been utilizing the Polk County Morgue, which is also in conjunction with its Sheriff’s department in Cedartown. Thus, the deceased has been transported from Paulding County to Polk and finally to Decatur where the autopsies are conducted at Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Eberhart Fuller explained.
This Polk County step should cease by the end of April, she said.
“Now we’ll be able to eliminate going out of county for holding purposes and be able to hold the body in our morgue and transport directly to Decatur when the medical examiner has the availability to conduct the exam,” Eberhart Fuller said.
Also, sometimes the families in this situation may need a little time to evaluate their options, Eberhart Fuller said and added that having the morgue local will help with that.
“It takes some of the stress out of it for people and gives them an extra day or two to work out a solution,” she said.
This is also a key improvement in conjunction with homicide investigations, Eberhart Fuller explained.
“It preserves the chain of custody, ensures the security of the deceased and the preservation not only of the body itself but any evidence on the body, and provides for the deceased to remain in Paulding County while awaiting autopsy,” she said.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation in Decatur currently does autopsies for 89 counties in Georgia including Paulding, Eberhart Fuller said.
“It hasn’t been uncommon for a medical examiner to say they want to do an exam, but that we will have to hold the body several days before they have a table available. This can present a dilemma when you don’t have a holding facility,” she said.
Additionally, the construction of the Paulding County Sheriff’s headquarters and detention Center at the Watson Complex is said to be wrapping up.
The date for completion was March 18, according to Amy Tisenchek, the senior program manager, Comprehensive Program Services, who updated Paulding commissioners on the project in February.
Tisenchek told Paulding commissioners that the staff move-in date is targeted for mid to late April. News about the project can be viewed at the website, pauldingjail.com