ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County officials will soon decide whether to move forward with a 10-year, $13 million plan addressing space needs for various county services, including the court of clerks, supervisor of elections office, comptrollers office, and St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Additionally, on Tuesday, the county will hear a recommendation to spend $6.5 million to expand and construct more space for the medical examiner’s office, which, according to the last two years of reports, has its morgue space at capacity.
According to the medical examiner’s office report from 2023, the total population among Flagler, Putnam, and St. Johns counties was 527,504, which are all areas the medical examiner’s office serves.
In 2024, that number jumped to 548,973, indicating significant growth in each county, with St. Johns County adding more than 14,000 residents.
Fred Price and his wife, Penny, who have lived in the area since 1981, were unaware of how full the medical examiner’s office had become.
“Oh, yeah, St. Johns County, when I came here, I think there were like 96,000 acres in farmland. Now it’s reduced down to maybe 30,000 acres,” he said.
And the region’s growth could be why an increased demand has been placed on the morgue.
“I really am not familiar with the background of it, but I think that if it’s positive for the neighborhood and surrounding areas, yes, that would be good,” said Kerrie Crace.
“I’m proud of that. I pay enough taxes; they can build a new place,” Fred added.
According to our news partners at Jax Today in December, the chief medical examiner in St. Johns County requested for the county’s aging ME office to be replaced, citing poor ventilation, which makes it hazardous for staff when they’re dealing with people who died from a virus, and the aging air condition system makes it difficult to perform autopsies during the summer.
Funding was initially approved last year for a new building, but the money was cut from the budget when DeSantis vetoed more than $900 million in projects across the state.
In 2023, a similar request to update the building was denied by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
