After defeating 40-year incumbent, new Jasper Co. coroner says county left him no supplies
Jasper County’s new coroner, complaining for the first time publicly, told the County Council last week that when he started the job, he had no van, no tools, and an office he suspected had mold in it.
The county “dropped the ball,” Coroner Willie P. Aiken said.
Aiken, who owns and operates Legacy Funeral Home in Estill, started as coroner on Jan. 5, his first elected position. He had defeated longtime incumbent Martin Sauls III and former deputy coroner Jeremiah E. Vaigneur II in the June Democratic primary and went unchallenged in the November general election.
During the 40 years Sauls was coroner, he personally purchased and owned most of the equipment he used, including the coroner’s van, and primarily worked out of his family-owned funeral home. So when Aiken started work, none of that was available.
One of Aiken’s first public appearances as coroner was Tuesday’s County Council meeting. The council had discussed the coroner’s office in closed sessions during its Dec. 7 and Jan. 4 meetings, according to the agendas, but Tuesday’s meeting was the first time in a public forum.
Tensions came to a head as Aiken and council Chairperson Barbara Clark spoke over each other at times.
Aiken said he was in an “urgent state” because he doesn’t have the supplies he needs, including a coroner’s van and an office that’s “something we can be proud of.” He said he is using his personal vehicle in the meantime, and wants the office in the morgue to be tested for mold.
He acknowledged that since he first mentioned the problem, county administration has worked with him to search for office space and had purchased a coroner’s van. He thanked those people “who want to get us on the right track.”
Clark paused. “I’m going to say this, then we’re going to move on,” she began. She talked about treating all elected officials fairly, but also trying their best to provide everyone with what they need.
“We just have to do the best we can with what we have,” she said. “We’re not going to let anybody go lacking.”
“Can I comment?” Aiken broke in. “I know you said work with what you have, but we weren’t working with anything. ... I didn’t want to get into details, but since you brought it up, the county dropped the ball.”
Clark said Aiken was “absolutely right” that he wouldn’t have had all the necessary resources if he didn’t own a funeral home, but disagrees that it’s the county’s fault.
Typically, after elected officials take office, they tell the council what they need.
“It’s not that we dropped the ball,” Clark said. “We’re not going to get out ahead of you. You have to come to us and let us know what you need.”
Aiken did not to return two calls and a text Friday after setting up a time to speak with a reporter.
County Administrator Andrew Fulghum told The Island Packet on Friday that the county had purchased a van from former coroner Sauls and was shopping for an office for Aiken while awaiting test results for mold in the morgue.
“It was rocky because everyone had different expectations, and there was finger pointing for who was to at fault, and to be honest, there’s probably plenty of blame to go around,” Fulghum said.
Prior to this year, former coroner Sauls and his father L. Martin Sauls Jr. had held the office for a collective 70 years.
In those seven decades, the Sauls — who own and operate their own funeral home with locations in Ridgeland and Bluffton — had used their personal equipment and did coroner’s business out of their funeral home. The coroner’s office operated relatively independently, with its budget coming from the county. Most members of council appear to be unaware of the inner workings of the coroner’s office.
Fulghum said the county owns a morgue with “bare bones” office space in it, but since Sauls had done most of his work out of his own funeral home, the county was probably under the impression that Aiken would operate in a similar manner.
“I think we’re past the roughness, and we’re moving forward, and we’re going to get (Aiken) set up the way he needs to be,” Fulghum said. He said going forward, administration and council will work with Aiken to learn more about the duties of the coroner and “see where he wants to take the office.”
