County eyes benefits of cremation over burials

By Timothy Pratt

Monday, Aug. 2, 2004 | 11:02 a.m.

At least twice a day, Clark County picks up the tab when someone dies too broke to pay for a final resting place.

For years, the government has had a choice between burying or cremating the valley's poor. Most have been buried, and burials cost more than four times as much as cremations.

As the population has risen, the number of indigents dying has also gone up, and the cost of burials has risen as well -- from $600,000 in 2001 to $900,000 projected for 2004.

The Clark County Commission will see for the first time a suggested policy on the issue at its Tuesday meeting, a proposal that could save up to $200,000 a year: cremation of paupers instead of burial, unless a burial is preferred for religious or legal reasons.

A look at the process offers a glimpse into how a large local government handles a highly personal process while attempting to walk the line between efficiency and sensitivity.

"It's a financial and a cultural issue at the same time," Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said.

The new policy "is a good move," Murphy said, "but at the same time we have the obligation to continue to be sensitive to each person's needs."

The policy, said Bobby Gordon, social service manager for the county, came after a study of 14 counties in western states comparable in size to Clark County.

"Cremation is basically what they're doing," she said.

The county said it will work with the coroner's office to make every effort to contact family members or loved ones to ensure that they have no opposition to the practice.

"It is not our intent to cause any grief," she said.

Murphy said the coroner's staff can take up to 90 days -- and in some cases longer -- to identify deceased persons or to locate their family and other loved ones. Identifying the person includes DNA tests, fingerprints and X-rays, he said.

The issue of identifying family members or loved ones becomes difficult with some of the valley's poor who are homeless, said Linda Lera-Randle El, director of Straight from the Streets and organizer of an annual ceremony for the last eight years honoring the valley's homeless who have died.

Last year, at least 55 homeless men and women died in Southern Nevada.

"Some of these people are missing -- their families have lost track of them," Lera-Randle El said.

According to Gordon, 801 indigents were buried or cremated on the county's dime in 2003. About 75 percent, or 588, were buried. A burial costs about $1,800; a cremation costs $425, the official said.

Apart from situations where family members or loved ones oppose the practice of cremation, the other exceptions to the policy would be for homicide victims and so-called John or Jane Does, Gordon said.

The latter cases involve people who it may be necessary to try and identify after burial through DNA analysis or other methods.

Although some religions require specific burial methods, Gordon said it would be difficult to make the decision not to cremate based on a deceased person's religion alone.

"We can't assume that the staff knows every religious group's preference," she said, adding that a family member would have to advise the county of the deceased person's religion.

As for the remains left after cremation, the new policy would allow for them to be stored in Bunker's Mortuary for up to 120 days in case family members wish to recover them. After the four months is up, the remains would be stored in a crypt maintained by the county.

Lera-Randle El said she hoped the policy would be handled sensitively. It will be introduced at Tuesday's commission meeting and the commission will vote on whether to allow public comment on the policy at the commission's Aug. 17 meeting. If the policy is approved at that meeting, it would take effect in September.

"If we have to do this for economic reasons," Lera Randle-El said, "let's make sure it's not without compassion."