Should the Commission authorize the Executive Director to increase the requested FY 2019-20 contractual agreement with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for Coroner Training to an amount not to exceed $413,224?

POST has a contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to provide Coroner training courses and an annual Coroner symposium. This contract is funded through revenue received under § 103680 of the Health and Safety Code. This statute requires a fee of three dollars ($3) for the issuance of a permit for the disposition of human remains, one dollar ($1) of which is designated for the “training of peace officer members of county coroners’ offices.” The statute called for this fee to be paid into the Peace Officer Training Fund.

To address on-going declines in State Penalty Fund (SPF) revenues and the insolvency of various funds within, the FY 2017-18 State Budget eliminated the statutory formulas dictating how SPF revenues are distributed and appropriated revenues directly to certain programs. POST spending authority was transferred from the Peace Officer Training Fund to the State Penalty Fund. An inadvertent oversight of this shift was that revenue received under §103680 H&S became inaccessible to POST. POST began working with Department of Finance for the needed legislative fix. Pending this resolution, POST amended the FY 2017-18 contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department based upon fund availability per POST Regulation 1015. The FY 2018-19 contract was reduced from $168,371 to $77,280.     

Assembly Bill 1812, Public safety omnibus (2017-2018) was approved by the Governor on June 27, 2018. § 103680 H&S was amended to designate the payment of this fee into the State Penalty Fund.

Coroner training is equipment and material intensive. Recent mass casualty incidents in California, such as the Camp Fire in Butte County and the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting in Ventura County, have highlighted critical training needs for Coroners statewide. POST staff are working with the California State Coroners Association to conduct a training needs survey of all 58 coroner/medical examiner agencies in the State.

Prior to the FY 2017-18 reduction, the contract with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department was for $168,371. The initial contract request for FY 2019-20 was also for $168,371. POST is seeking to add any identified surplus revenue received under § 103680 H&S to this $168,371 and increase the FY 2019-20 requested contractual agreement with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for Coroner Training to an amount not to exceed $413,224.

Staff recommends the Commission authorize the Executive Director to increase the requested FY 2019-20 contractual agreement with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department for Coroner Training to an amount not to exceed $413,224.