Nueces commissioners approve $75K raise for medical examiner

Neal: Nationwide shortage of pathologists a reason county should give Fernandez raise

• By Jessica Savage
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• Should the Nueces County commissioners have given a $75,000 raise to the medical examiner?

  CORPUS CHRISTI — Nueces County’s medical examiner will get a $75,000 pay raise to keep his pay competitive with other counties.
  The 46 percent increase county commissioners approved Wednesday will bring Medical Examiner Ray Fernandez’s salary to $238,634 for performing autopsies. He also will receive a $5,000 annual car allowance, up from $1,400, and about $80,000 in commission each year for performing out-of-county autopsies, a service offered to 14 surrounding counties that are without a coroner. Fernandez is the county’s highest paid employee.
  “I know we’re in the tough economic times, but the county is responsible for taking care of three main things: law enforcement, the courts and its deceased,” Fernandez said. “It’s a scientific business, but it’s also a personal matter for people.”
  County Judge Loyd Neal, who placed the item on the agenda, pointed to the nationwide shortage of pathologists as a reason the county should give Fernandez a raise. The county couldn’t afford to lose him, he said.
  The shortage has caught the attention of those who rely on their skills to solve crimes. Medical examiners determine the cause of the death and frequently testify in court about their findings. Fernandez has been with the office since 2003 and during that time it has received national accreditation, a designation that prosecutors often reference in court, he said.
  Commissioners voted unanimously in support of the raise.
  “We’re very fortunate to have the doctor and his staff here and they do a good job and we have a facility that many in South Texas don’t,” Neal said.
  Fernandez thanked commissioners for their support.
  “It’s been an honor to work here in my hometown,” he said.
  Even with the raise, Fernandez won’t be making what other counties pay their chief medical examiners. Lubbock County, which is smaller than Nueces County, pays $450,000 a year. The average pay for Harris, Travis and Bexar counties, which are larger than Nueces County, is $269,387.
  To close the gap, Fernandez has proposed that commissioners increase his salary by $20,000 over the next three years. Commissioners did not vote on that Wednesday because they cannot commit money for the future.
  Earlier this year, commissioners approved a $115.2 million budget, which called for $1.4 million in cuts to keep the tax rate at 35.5 cents per $100 valuation, the same as last year. At the time, Neal instructed commissioners to watch their spending as next year could require additional cuts.
  The money to pay for Fernandez’s salary increase will come from $144,000 that was set aside to pay for county jail doctor William Flores. Flores canceled that contract early in the fiscal year, so the item still was included in this year’s budget, Neal said.
  Fernandez and a part-time physician, who works one week a month, perform an average of 500 autopsies a year. About 100 of those are requested by nearby counties.