Schuylkill County commissioners approved fee changes in 2021 for those requesting reports.

Schuylkill County Coroner David J. Moylan told the commissioners Wednesday the office is trying to recoup costs.

“Our expenses have gone up,” he said.

Effective immediately, a $30 administrative fee will be added to all requests for records, excluding cremation authorization requests. If more than one report is requested, the fee is charged once.

The cremation authorization dropped to $50 from $100. However, a $25 charge is added to funeral homes for body bags.

Deputy Coroner John Mika said the coroner’s office had 588 cases in 2020, up from 506 in 2019. Deputy coroner Albert Barnes said the cost for the body bags is expensive, adding sometimes heavier bags are needed depending upon circumstances.

Barnes said fee changes have not been instituted in at least 14 years. Barnes and Mika said they called nearby counties of Berks, Luzerne, Dauphin, Lancaster, Carbon and Lehigh. All have costs for reports, they said.

Commissioners had questions about the $30 fee previously, but they were answered Wednesday.

Also, the $15 hour cost for follow-up casework charged for the investigative report was approved, however a cost was billed under another category and is a reclassification to more accurately reflect work performed.

Commissioner George Halcovage Jr. did not attend the meeting.