Schuylkill County is on pace to record more drug-related deaths this year than in 2019.

“We currently are at 89 drug-related deaths at this point,” Deputy Coroner John Mika told the commissioners last week.

Mika and Deputy Coroner Albert Barnes were at the weekly meeting to answer questions the commissioners had involving autopsies. The coroner’s office requested $17,200 to pay for eight autopsies for September, which commissioners approved.

Finance Director Paul Buber said the money involves a transfer from the contingency fund to pay for the autopsies. Mika said most of the deaths in September were drug-related.

“Up through September of this year, actually up until now, the budget authority for that has been approved for this particular line item has been maxed out. So we not only need to make a budget adjustment to pay this particular invoice … but most likely there will be another budget adjustment coming moving forward for October, November and December,” Buber said, adding other items in the coroner’s budget are near the amounts approved.

Buber said he expects there will be more requests for money for autopsies.

Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage Jr. said he understands.

“We don’t control who dies. That is the tragedy of the whole situation,” he said.

“We are going to break well over 100 overdose cases,” Barnes said.

He said police are looking to file charges in some of the cases for drug delivery resulting in death.

“A physical forensic autopsy has to be done so there is documentation to back up what the findings are,” Barnes said.

“Are police requesting these autopsies?” Commissioner Barron “Boots” Hetherington asked about the autopsies involving drugs.

State police, Pottsville Bureau of Police and other police are requesting the autopsies, which are done at The Dauphin County Forensic Center, Barnes said.

“Since 2017, we have all but doubled our drug overdose deaths in the county,” he said.

Mika said the coroner’s office is waiting for between 10 and 12 toxicology tests to come back. Thursday he said the office now has 93 drug-related deaths in the county after results from toxicology tests have returned.

Fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine are most often found, Mika said.

“The drug deaths are constant,” he said.